Stargate Birthright
by Dyer Woodworth
Summary: About twenty five years after Atlantis beats the Ori, an old enemy allies with a new one to attack Earth. It's up to the children of the SGC and Atlantis to stop them from destroying everything they love.


Toshiba

2012

Stargate Birthright

An Orian Wraith novel

Dana Dyer

[Type the company address]

Stargate: Birthright

Dana Woodworth

Dedication:

This book is dedicated to my best friend, Josh Woodard. Thanks Yoshi for always believing in me and never losing faith I could publish this book. You're always there when I need you. Thanks for being my angel.

Special Thanks:

Olivia Smith, for introducing me to Stargate and being brutally honest about what she thought about my book

Keltsey Watkins, for reading it and always saying it was awesome

My parents for letting me

My grandparents for just being there

Note:

This book is based on the movie Stargate and the shows based on the movie. It is advised for readers to watch them first but a brief description follows this paragraph summarizing them.

The Stargate is a circular device that creates a wormhole to other Stargates. They can transport people from one planet to another almost instantly. Atlantis is an abandoned city by the Ancients, the race of people who made the Stargates. The Wraith are the race that destroyed them. The suck the life out of people using suckers in a slit on their one palm. They are pale and have pointy teeth. The Travelers are a people who primarily live in ships and travel the galaxy.

Prologue

A single Wraith stood in a lab, at a station, utterly alone. The Wraith had pale green-tinted skin with a design tattooed on his cheek and white dreadlocks. His eyes were yellow and had pupils like snakes'. The room was all grey metal, so that the ceiling looked identical to the floor. A few rows and columns of lab stations filled the room. The Wraith leaned against one farthest away from the door. Before him, vials of odd colored liquids and beakers of various things were spread out. Tubes connected the tops of some and some had caps, while others had nothing. In front of the Wraith, on the station, a sat a Wraith computer. It was a square of what looked to be rubbery skin with a small screen full of scrolling numbers with a small hand-pad. The Wraith seemed to be entering data in it, using only the pad. For a few minutes, he went on like this: just entering data while some of the beakers bubbled and made much noise in general.

Another Wraith, a commander by the look of him, strolled silently in through the metal door. He raised his head as he approached the scientist. The scientist looked up at him and stood up straight; the scientist had been slouching, even though he didn't know it. The commander said, "How are your experiments?"

The scientist bared his pointed teeth in a smile. "It goes well. The modification will destroy them all."

At this, the commander returned the scientist's eager smile, revealing his own enthusiasm. Walking back to the door, pleased and anxious, he responded wryly, "All hail the Ori."

Chapter One:

Dacey

Dacey stalked through the bright halls in Atlantis. Shaun ran up from behind, his footsteps echoed around him. People passing by stepped aside as Shaun nearly ran them over.

"Dacey! Dacey, please wait! Let me talk to you about it."

Dacey wheeled quickly and faced him, her nostrils flaring. Anger spread across her face. "What is it, Shaun? Torren sent you, didn't he? That rat, I swear, one of these days..."

"Dacey, I know you hate Torren, but you have to suck it up. Please, give me a second," Shaun bent over and breathed in deeply. His panting slowly subsided. A few drops of sweat gleamed on his forehead, which he swiped away with his hand. Dacey waited impatiently. She _did_ hate Torren and wished he had stayed on Earth. Torren wasn't exactly cruel or anything, it was just his attitude towards everything and his personality in general.

"Dacey, listen to me. We can work through your anger. How about we go spar? That way, you release stress and I get a difficult practice." Shaun smiled like he had just thought of a Nobel Prize idea.

Dacey contemplated his proposal. She did like to spar. In fact, it was one of her favorite hobbies here on Atlantis. After a long pause, that stretched out, for what seemed forever, she said, "Fine. If he's there, I will hurt him. I will not hold back and you know it."

Shaun nodded vigorously. "Yes. In that case, do you want to change before we spar? I could use looser clothes. I could rip these in a heartbeat; I accidently ordered the wrong sized uniform."

"Fine. I'll meet you outside the sparring room in ten. Don't be late."

With that, the duo departed in opposite directions. Dacey climbed up stairs and down another flight. Walking through a maze of corridors, she arrived at her quarters. The first time she had tried to find her room, she had ended up in a science lab. Dr. Keller had had to give her a map and directions. It took her over an hour to find her quarters, even with the map.

Stepping into her quarters, Dacey smelled the familiar scent of leather with a hint of metal. A picture of her father and mother smiled at her from a nightstand. She sat on the bed and picked it up. They looked so happy. The picture was the most recent her father had been able to give her. Setting it back down, Dacey stood and walked to the small closet on the opposite side of the room. Searching through it, she found a leather tank top and skirt, which were soft under her touch, due to being used often. It was her best sparring outfit. The skirt went down to her ankles and had two slits, on the sides, up to her mid thighs. The slits helped provide easy movement. The skirt was Athosian made and perfect for fights.

Dacey stripped and slid on the leather outfit. With a rushed effort, her hair was placed into a messy bun. She had long hair because she had wanted to be normal. When she was young, her dad had told her short hair was meant for soldiers and to cut her hair when she wanted to be a fighter. Going back on track, she went to get her sticks. Taking her wooden sparring sticks, she walked out and headed for the sparring room, her dark bun bobbing with every step. The halls twisted until she arrived. Shaun was already standing outside the door. His sticks were on the floor next to him.

"Took you long enough. Were you trying to look nice for me?" A sarcastic smile played on his lips at the last comment. His blue eyes seemed to emit the same tone.

Dacey snorted. "Of course, dork. Don't I look delightful? I always do." Dacey smirked as Shaun raised his hands, palms up, in defeat. Dacey teasingly punched his left shoulder.

"Of course you always look lovely, Dacey. You first," Shaun said as he held up his arm, indicating she should enter. With a smile, she entered. Shaun picked up his sticks and followed. He actually did think she looked nice, now that he thought about it. The skirt she was wearing swayed as she went into the room.

Inside was empty. Light streamed in through the window. The lights lit as they entered, illuminating the room with a blinding light. The two situated themselves on the floor. Stretching each arm, a stick in each hand and rolling her neck, Dacey took up a fighting stance. "Ready, Shaun. Attack me."

Shaun needed to be told only once. He jumped forward, swinging his sticks together at her ribs. Dacey blocked with both of hers and sidestepped. Pushing with all her strength, she forced Shaun a few feet back. Balancing he weight, Dacey took up a defensive stance. Shaun came at her again. Dacey twisted to the side and he landed on the ground, on his stomach. Dacey leaped on the opportunity. She twisted his arm behind his back and planted her knee on his back. Shaun rolled and managed to throw Dacey off. She hit the ground hard, knocking all her breath from her lungs. The impact jarred her whole body. Shaun leapt on top of her. Straddling her, he held her arms against her sides. She was pinned. Struggling, he pressed down harder. Anger and annoyance coursed through her veins. She should be able to win every time. Her father was supposed to be the military man. Wrapping her legs around his waist, Dacey pulled him backwards. Shaun let go as he fell. This time, it was he who was on the ground. She straddled _him_, pinning his legs with her ankles. She grabbed his arms and pushed them against the cool floor.

"I've you pinned. Do you give?"

A few moments ticked by. Sighing he said, "Yes…" Instantly, Dacey let go and let him sit up. Still straddling him, Dacey sighed. "I know that look, Dacey. What are you thinking of?"

"Shaun, how can you read me so well? I mean, I can't tell what to do to calm you most of the time. Did you know you were the best kind of a friend a girl could have?"

Shaun smiled slightly like it amused him. He also chuckled before saying, "I can read you because I've known you your whole life. Since I was 2 years old I have had the chance to learn your body language. I have and always will be your best friend. And yes, I know I'm an awesome friend."

After the short speech had concluded, Dacey hugged Shaun tightly. Shaun could smell her usual scent of metal plus leather mixed with sweat. That aroma would never get old to him.

Dacey whispered, "Thank you," in his ear. Both smiled as they separated. Dacey stood and held out a hand for him. Taking the help up, he brushed off his shirt. As they grabbed their sticks and began to leave, Zola and Wen came in, arguing furiously. Wen finally got a chance to yell and took it.

"I told you! I wasn't flirting with Torren! I was strictly speaking about business and the upcoming mission to the mainland. The Pegasus Galaxy isn't exactly safe. I was assigned to his team, for protection! What do you want me to do? Show up that day and not be very prepared? His life is in my hands!"

"No, but you could talk a few hours less. Five hours about the mission? He knows about as much as you. He was at the briefing!"

Fuming Wen retorted, "Why do you care? You guys are merely 'friends!' Or are you jealous?" Knowing she had a point, Wen glared at Zola, waiting for a response. Stumped, Zola just glared right back. Both girls crossed their arms across their chests to challenge the other. Finally, Shaun coughed to get attention. The girls turned, surprised someone else was there. Wen sputtered, "Umm…we… uh… were talking…"

The corner of Shaun's mouth twitched upwards. "Yes, I'm sure. We have to hit the showers; well, I do at least. You are in the doorway, so could you two move your fight to the hall or in the room?"

The two stepped inside the door and to the side. Trying not to laugh or smile, Dacey shuffled quickly to the hall. Shaun was close on her heels. Once the door had closed, the two of them burst into laughter. Wen and Zola _always_ fought like an old married couple. Those two girls resolved one issue and found another. Dacey couldn't believe they were fighting over Torren. Dacey pushed the thought from her mind as she took hold of Shaun's arm to steady her. Laughing like mad people, the two stumbled down the hall in the direction of Dacey's quarters.

"Shaun, why do those two fight so much? They need to chill."

Shaking his head, Shaun said, "I don't know Dacey, but I do know they need to get over themselves. Maybe they could even act like friends, like you and I."

Dacey nodded, agreeing. Shaun was right by logic once again. She had to admit, he was a bright one. He took after his father, Rodney McKay, although, he was more handsome, with his light brown hair and crystal blue eyes. He also was kinder to people. McKay also lacked his son's physical strength. Shaun was better built; he got everything good from his mother. At the thought, Dacey grinned widely.

Her smile disappeared as she spotted the one person she hated more than the Wraith: Torren. He was nonchalantly walking down the hall with a look on his face that said he thought he owned the place. Since his mom was nice, kind and raised him like royalty, he was arrogant, self-centered, and thought everyone should treat him like a king. Dacey was one of the few, her and Wen, who let him know she what she thought of him. Dacey, even as a kid, hated him. Torren also made a habit of making her angry on purpose and then acting all sweet to his mom and everyone else. One time, he insulted her dad and so she punched him. He then went and got her in trouble with his mom! Shaun, Wen, Abbie, and Zola were the only ones who knew about what Torren was really like. She wished he would go back to his own planet, like Teyla.

Torren stopped a few feet away and smiled condescendingly at Dacey. He snottily said, "Well, hello, Dacey. I'm not surprised you're out taking a stroll with your boyfriend. I'll give you advice; you're too good for him."

Dacey's face flushed with anger and she started running at him. If Shaun hadn't grabbed her arms to hold her back, she would've hurt him. Dacey struggled for a few seconds under Shaun's grasp. She could stand being insulting herself but, he had insulted Shaun. Do that and you have an angry soldier on your hands.

Shaun whispered in her ear, "Don't do it. Walk away. You don't have to prove anything."

Dacey gave an exasperated groan and shook free of Shaun then turned and walked away. Stormed away was more like it. Shaun caught up with her and both began walking towards her quarters again.

Once the pair had reached Dacey's quarters, the door opened. Dacey waved a quick goodbye to Shaun and stepped into her room. Shaun waved as the door shut. She flopped on her bed. Silence filled the air around her. Tiredness swept through her body like a hurricane. Curling into a ball, Dacey fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 2

Abbie

The Stargate lit up as it dialed Earth. Abbie was excited; she was going to be able to speak with her father. It had been 3 months since Stargate Command had heard from or contacted Atlantis. This was one of the perks of commanding Atlantis; she got to speak directly to Stargate Command. It also, just so happened, to be under General Mitchell's leadership. The general was also her father. Smiling, Abbie heard the last chevron lock. A pool of blue water burst from the circle. The wormhole to Earth had been established. Abbie pushed the button on her communicator in her ear to speak.

"Stargate Command, this is Colonel Mitchell. We have successfully established a wormhole. We received your request to speak with me earlier from the _Daedalus_ _Mark 2_. How can we assist you?"

"Well, you can drop the formalities, Abbie. Secondly, we need Atlantis to return to Earth. A few ships have appeared on our sensors, headed right for us. We could use the drones in Atlantis. You've got ZPMs, right? We have a few in Area 51, if you need them."

Abbie thought for a moment. Then she remembered how many ZPMs they had. "We have all we need. Dacey can use the chair, so I believe we are good to go. How are you anyway, Dad?"

"Well, Sam hasn't been home for a month, so I'm a little lonely. However, I have Daniel to spar with me and entertain me. You know how much he likes to party," General Mitchell said in a sarcastic tone.

Abbie laughed to herself. "Alright, in that case, I'll see you in half an hour. We'll boot up the wormhole drive and be home in time for supper. Atlantis, over and out."

Abbie walked back into the control room from the balcony. Her blonde hair fell from its ponytail as she came to a stop. Annoyed, she quickly put the smooth blonde hairs back up. Turning to another officer, working on something on a laptop, Abbie said, "I need coffee before we enter a wormhole to Earth. Call me if you need me."

Abbie walked out and into a hall. Turning, she headed for a transporter. Once there, she pressed the mess hall's location on the map. The doors slid open and she stepped out. Walking for the nearest table, she spotted a coffee pot. The last thing she needed, most likely. Abbie knew what she needed most was sleep. However, time didn't stop and neither did her enemies. Whoever was headed for Earth apparently couldn't and wouldn't either. With that thought, Abbie poured herself a cup of coffee. It felt warm in her grasp. She snuck a quick sniff of the brown liquid, comforted by the familiar scent of fresh coffee.

She brought the cup to her lips for a long swig. The liquid slid down her throat and gave her a spark of life. Invigorated, Abbie began walking back to the transporter. The doors opened and the map of the city appeared on the screen before her. Pressing her desired location with her free hand, Abbie sipped her coffee from the cup in her other. When the doors opened once again, she stepped out. Venturing to the front of the command room, she stopped. Swallowing another shot of coffee, Abbie turned to the officer at the controls for the wormhole drive.

"Ready? We need to get this show on the road."

"Yes, ma'am. Would you like to arrive where the ships are or in orbit around Earth?" said the officer, as he turned to his commanding officer.

"Earth will do. General Mitchell is expecting us; we wouldn't want to keep him waiting."

Nodding, the officer began pushing different crystals down and rearranging other ones. Looking down on the Stargate, Abbie pondered what could happen next. Atlantis could be recalled to Earth, only to arrive and be fired upon. There was no telling how fast the ships on sensors moved. They could be like an evil twin race of the Asgard. Or, they could arrive and meet a friendly race who wanted to become allies and only happened to be coming by Earth.

Abbie chuckled at that thought. It was way too optimistic. It was better to prepare for the worst. In the middle of her thoughts, Atlantis entered a wormhole. Blue streaks appeared outside the window as planets passed. Looking down at her coffee, Abbie realized it was probably cold. Shrugging, she took a gulp. Sure enough, it was cold. A grimace crossed her face. Oh well, she shouldn't waste the rest if she could just drink it. Bringing it to her lips, Abbie began to drink the rest. At that moment, Atlantis jerked forward. A scientist behind her, monitoring the wormhole, fell into Abbie. Spilling coffee everywhere, both women crashed to the floor. Abbie started to rise, just to be knocked to her knees by a second jolt.

Looking up from the floor, Abbie called, "What the hell was that? We didn't even exit the wormhole!"

Atlantis dropped out of the wormhole, soon after the second jolt. Scientists and officers alike climbed into their seats, to read the data. The first to report was a young female scientist in the back with a pad.

"We seemed to have been fired upon by the ships on sensors while in the wormhole. I can't figure out who exactly shot us though."

"What do you mean you can't figure it out? It says on the pad, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am, but the data itself makes no sense."

Sighing, Abbie firmly stated, "Pass me a pad; let me see." A pad, miraculously, made it to her hands quickly. The data was contradicting itself. The scientist was right, it made no sense. Then, like a lock and key, it clicked. The data made a horrible sense. "Oh no, this can't be…"

All the people in the command waited to hear what she realized, for no one else knew. Abbie said, with a sad and shocked tone, "The data isn't nonsense; you just have to think a little. It says, with a little interpretation, it is the Wraith. The Wraith, however, have a new card up their sleeve. They have Ori technology now and they are using it."

Atlantis shook once more, but everyone kept their footing. Abbie debated briefly what to do. What could she do? Would the drones have any effect on the new and improved Hives?

"Abbie to Dacey, respond," Abbie said into her earpiece. Dacey responded after a long moment. It was a relief she was alright.

"Yeah, Abbie, what's up? I'm lucky I was sitting in the drone chair or I would have done a face-plant."

Gravely, Abbie said, "Well, we are under attack by the Wraith. I was wondering if you could fire drones and monitor their effectiveness. Because, I honestly don't know if a drone will be any use, at the moment."

Abbie looked back down at her pad. A yellow dot, representing a drone, made its way across her screen. It slammed into the Hive. Dacey reported instantly, "It did something, but not much. It might have hurt their ship, but barely."

Sighing, Abbie replied, "Then we better find a new weapon." With that, she turned to the officers. "Is the drive functional? Can we reach Earth, or are we stranded?"

"Atlantis sustained no major damage and can fly the rest of the way to Earth."

Nodding, Abbie said, "Do it," turning to the scientists, she said, "Find a way to enhance the drones and improve the shield. That is you main responsibility, now."

Scientists scurried from the room and officers worked on bringing the drive online once more. Breathing deeply, Abbie walked to the balcony overlooking the Stargate below. She looked down and began pressing different buttons on her pad. Each time she tried to get clear sensor readings, the pad came up with nothing. A grimace spread across her face.

Without another word, Atlantis's shield went up. A soldier informed Abbie the Wormhole Drive was ready. Nodding, she said, "Enter a wormhole. Take us home."

Blue streaks sped by once more. Abbie quickly became distracted. The Wraith would be nearly unstoppable with Ori technology. This thought caused Abbie's mood to darken. Another thought nagged at her; how did the Wraith manage to survive undetected for the past 30 years and get Ori upgrades? The Wraith were nearly destroyed last time Stargate Command had seen them. How had they survived? No planets in the Pegasus or Milky Way galaxy had been fed upon. Puzzled, Abbie considered it. She studied the blue streaks outside the window. The entire trip to Earth would take an hour. The hive had been on the fringe of the Milky Way galaxy and would get to Earth a little while after Atlantis, their Wormhole Drives were more primitive.

Abbie debated how to spend the next hour. She needed sleep but doubted she could under the circumstances. Turning to the scientist at the console, rearranging crystals, she nodded. He understood; he was in charge of the gate control room while she was gone. Abbie walked around a glass wall and down the stairs to the middle of the gateroom. Turning left, she headed through the corridors that all looked the same, in a way only a person who grew up here could. Finally, she reached the door she wanted and passed her hand an inch above the rectangle control crystals for the door. It slid open. Abbie stepped inside and immediately crashed onto the bed. Sleep deprivation forced her to fall fast asleep.

Chapter 3

Dacey sprinted out from the chairroom. She was headed to Rodney and Shaun's lab. They shared one because McKays were geniuses who worked better together and could solve anything between them. Dacey passed Wen and Zola arguing as she jogged. Dacey grabbed Wen's arm and stopped.

"Did you hear? The ship was Wraith and Ori. Pack your gun and get ready for war, 'cause I doubt they will want to talk."

Wen replied, "Yeah, we were going to my personal stash of weapons and to ask my dad if he had my gun; I can't seem to find it."

Dacey nodded and took up jogging again. A few tense minutes later, she came to the lab. After waving her hand over the crystal control, Dacey stepped in. Rodney was yelling at Shaun, who was at a computer and pressing buttons. Rodney said something about how stupid Shaun's idea was and was about to rant about that until Dacey started speaking to him.

"Rodney! Chill. You've heard about the Ori hive, I assume. I need you to both to find a way to make the drones more effective and our shields stronger. A task for both of you. Got it?"

The two mumbled, under their breathes. Shaun spoke first, as Rodney opened his mouth, "Yeah. I think that if I increase the power input, it will be more effective. It will require me to-"

"Great. Yes would have sufficed. I wouldn't have understood what you were about to say, in the least. Rodney, any ideas for the shield?"

"Leave the hard work to me, I see. Well no but, I work great under pressure and can probably think of something. Tell Jennifer to send up a sandwich and lots of coffee."

Dacey rolled her eyes as she started towards the door. Stopping, she remembered the second half of what she was going to say.

"Oh and tell her to bring you guys up two P-90s. I doubt the Wraith will want to take prisoners."

Both scientists gulped as they thought about being fed upon by Wraith. Dacey, once again, turned to the door. She slipped into the hall and debated where to head to next. The armory was on her to-do list. She needed a weapon but she also needed to talk to Abbie. Deciding to get a weapon first, Dacey started a fast walk towards the armory.

Once inside, Dacey inhaled the scent of gunpowder. She grabbed a vest and loaded it with magazines of bullets, a Zat'nik'tel, a Goa'uld personal shield, a Kino, and a Wraith stun rod. Dacey activated the Kino and it started to hover. Using the new voice control feature, she told it to record everything it saw and follow her. She told it to hide if a Wraith or human, other than an Atlantis personnel, appeared. Satisfied, Dacey hit her earpiece.

"Dacey to Abbie, respond."

It took only a few seconds until a muffled and groggy reply came, "Yes, what is it, Dacey?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming confrontation. I think I should lead a group of hand-picked Marines to guard the gate when we drop out of the wormhole. The Wraith might try to dial us up and ship us some party guests. I think we should also arm every person on this base with at least a gun and a vest. If need be, we can dial Earth and get more supplies."

Sighing, Dacey thought about what Abbie could say. Abbie could simply say no or she could request to occupy their gate so the Wraith couldn't. That was stupid, considering they needed it open, in case they had to evacuate. Thinking about it would get her very far. With that thought, she shook her head, as if to clear her mind.

"Dacey, go to armory five and start arming your Marines. I'll send people, starting with those who are in the gate control room, to armory two to hand out weapons. Contact the Marines you want and have them report to you. Debrief them when they arrive. Abbie, over and out."

Half smiling, Dacey started forward towards the fifth armory in Atlantis. It was the biggest and had the most guns. It also had all the weapons collected from other races during the years. The armory had everything from Zats to Ori staff weapons to Wraith stun bombs. As she headed to the armory, Dacey contacted her Marines. All of them had seemed almost eager to get this job and not have to babysit the scientists.

When she arrived, all four of the Marines stood outside the door, waiting for her. When they saw her, they stood straighter and saluted. Dacey nodded and they relaxed a bit and stopped saluting. She entered the door and the Marines followed in an orderly manner.

"Ok, so we know there is a hive on its way to Earth. As of 12 hundred this morning, there has been contact. A drone did minimal, if any, damage to it. They were able to not only fire on Atlantis while in a wormhole, but do slight damage with two shots. Our mission, when we reach Earth is to guard the gate. The stargate is vital, if we are to survive. If the Wraith come, they will come through it. Do I make myself clear?"

Four voices spoke together, "Yes ma'am."

"Good, let's get to work. I'd hate to be stuck with you without any weapons. I would have to save your sorry butts." With that, Dacey entered the armory as one of the Marines passed his hand over the crystal control panel. Striding towards to the first rack in the second row, Dacey picked up a Zat and handed it to the nearest soldier. He passed it to the soldier in the back. Dacey handed each of the others a Zat as well. Moving to the next row's first rack, she began handing out vest and magazines. On the next rack, she picked up P-90s for them. Lastly, Dacey grabbed a personal shield for each Marine. Prepared for nearly any attack, the Marines stood and awaited orders. Dacey turned and looked at the Marines, sizing them up. She was in the Navy but still liked the Marines because her grandpa had been in that branch. However, she had taken after her other grandpa and went with the Navy. Realizing, she had become distracted, Dacey refocused at the matter at hand.

"We are good to go. Any questions? Fantastic, let's move. I'd hate to miss the party. We have just about half an hour before show time."

Dacey began walking to the gateroom as she left the armory, with four soldier shadows in tow. Her mind shifted back to _the_ event. She remembered the eulogy. The day was her clearest memory. After all, she had read the eulogy herself. Shaun had stayed by her side, for she had asked him to, so she had the strength to. The speech came back to her, "My father, although at times annoying, was a great man. He served not only his country, but his world and countless others. Atlantis will miss him," Dacey had sniffed at this. Steeling herself so she wouldn't cry, she continued, "I am honored to be his kin and blood. From now on, I will carry his memory, as will his friends. May he be in peace in the next life. Godspeed."

Tears threatened to overtake Dacey as she arrived at the gateroom. She missed him. She really missed him. Right now, she could use him too. He was a military genius and would've known exactly what to do. Now she had to do the leading thing. Facing the gate, Dacey stopped and signaled the Marines stop and surround the gate, without a word. Within seconds, the Stargate was surrounded. She immediately blinked back the tears and controlled her nerves.

Dacey hit her earpiece, "Abbie, the Marines and I are in position."

"Good. We will reach Earth in 23 minutes. At that time, I will dial the SGC."

Nodding as if Abbie could see her, Dacey said, "Understood. Dacey, over and out."

Dacey squatted and took up a defensive position. From here, she could fire at any incoming travelers. The soldiers did the same, from where they were. Dacey began talking to lighten the mood and ease the tensions of the upcoming contact, "So, anyone see the last Olympics? The Discus winner threw extremely well. Although, he wasn't a tiny guy. How big was he?"

The soldiers looked at each other, seeing who would answer first. The only female in the group, besides Dacey, spoke, "I think he was about six and a half feet tall, ma'am."

Dacey nodded and a smile crept on her face. "Oh yeah, I remember now. He was the thrower who was so tall, the high jumping people had to get his help to higher the bar." Dacey laughed as the girl began to giggle. Dacey began to snort as her laughter grew. The three other Marines started up laughing, once hearing her.

When they had all calmed down, Dacey spoke again, "Sorry about my laugh, I never could laugh without snorting. What sports do you guys watch?"

Zola walked with Wen to armory two. Abbie had just asked them to arm themselves. Wen had insisted on visiting her dad first. Ronon Dex had gladly given Wen his gun and had even given Zola one just like it, but the power cell was blue.

Once they arrived at the armory, Zola greeted the Marine supervising distribution. She batted her eyes at him and flipped her hair back. The long brown mane hit her back gently. Zola asked sweetly, "Can you please arm us, muscles?"

The soldier looked at her, with a longing in his eyes. He was mesmerized by her beauty and quickly did what she had asked. Zola strapped on the vest he handed her and clipped on the magazines he shoved her way. Finally, she received a P-90. Zola smiled, revealing a perfect white smile.

Zola batted her eyes a few more times before flirting, "Thanks. I really needed to get a big gun. I wouldn't want to be fed on before you could ask me on a date, now would I?"

The Marine practically drooled at the last remark. His baby face betrayed how few dates he had gone on. "Yeah, I want you to live. You want to go on a date with _me,_ after this?"

"Maybe."

Smiling, Zola turned and walked down the hall towards the gate control room, Wen in tow. Wen wore no armor but, had worn instead a leather tank and pants, with matching boots, and had Ronon's gun in a holster on her belt. The outfit reflected how similar to her father she was. Wen turned and glared at Zola.

"Do you have to flirt with everything in a uniform?"

"Yes, well, at least it works for me. You couldn't charm anything. I can, so I use it to my advantage. Guys always fall for it."

Rolling her eyes, Wen didn't respond. She had the "whatever" look on her face. The pair walked on, passing few people in the halls, most were armed for battle. As they neared the gate control room, Abbie hurried by, as she slid an Atlantis jacket on. Zola called, "Abbie, where are you headed to?"

Turning half way through putting the jacket on, Abbie responded, "Oh! I'm going to the gate control room. Atlantis is about to exit the wormhole. I need to be there when we do. What are you guys doing?"

Wen spoke briefly, with her voice that could make milk sour, "Heading to the gate control room. We wanted to know if we could help. I want to be involved in the battle."

Zola nodded in agreement. Both waited for Abbie's response.

"Well, I guess. We might not need to leave Atlantis, if Shaun and Rodney can modify a couple of drones."

Wen inclined her head and stared down her nose. She glared at Abbie, clearly wanting to just invade the Wraith and kill as many as possible. After all, she was a warrior.

Abbie sighed and tried to smooth things over, "If we end up gating to the ship, you will be the first to know and go."

Wen's glare softened a tad and Abbie knew she was happy with the compromise.

Zola cleared her throat, causing Abbie to jump. "Sorry. So, shall we?" Abbie nodded and Wen turned her glare to Zola.

Zola raised an arm in the direction of the gate control room, "After you."

Wen quickly stepped into the lead and Abbie followed. Zola tagged along behind the duo. When they reached the gate control room, the scientists and soldiers working all looked up. A soldier passed Abbie a Zat. She grabbed the Zat. She thanked the Marine and walked to the balcony overhanging the gateroom. Dacey and her Marines glanced towards her, all were squatting. She called down, "Get ready. We will drop out of the wormhole in 30 seconds."

Dacey turned and looked at her Marines, "Turn on your personal shields. Get weapons ready."

The soldiers hit the buttons on the bracelet and yellow field appeared around each one, changing to enclose their specific shape. The Marines and Dacey held up their weapons and shifted to be better balanced in their squatting positions.

The blue streaks around Atlantis ended and Earth appeared. It could be seen through the various windows. However, floating between Atlantis and Earth was the Wraith hive with Ori technology. Single person Wraith ships, drones, flew to and from Earth in a flurry. Most, stayed around the hive though.

Abbie's jaw dropped as a squadron of drones headed towards Atlantis.

Shock reverberated in her words, "By God, what have they done?"

All hell broke loose as scientists worked to man stations and pull up sensor readings. All Abbie could do was yell, "Prepare for impact!"

The drones fired relentlessly upon Atlantis, shaking the city slightly, as they hit a few major towers.

Abbie slapped her earpiece, "Shaun, we need those drones now! We have to fire something."

Rustling in the background was her answer then, "Rodney and I don't have the reprogramming code done yet. You either can have me fire regular ones or call for Destiny."

Abbie debated her options. She turned to the scientist on the console behind her and leaned against it. "Bring up sensors and find Destiny. Rush probably found a way to make that ship fight." A few seconds later, a map of space came up on the screen behind the scientist. A blue dot lit up for Destiny and a red for Atlantis. Destiny was headed for the white dot, the Wraith. Abbie watched. Glancing back at the scientist she said, "Hail Destiny and patch my earpiece in."

As she said the last word, the Wraith drones came in for another run. This time, Atlantis was ready and the crew rolled with the fire. Abbie waited impatiently as the scientist tried to contact Destiny. Finally he had a connection and nodded for her to begin. Abbie waited impatiently as the scientist tried to contact Destiny. Finally he had a connection and nodded for her to begin. "Destiny, this is Atlantis. Regular drones won't do much damage to this new ship. Do not engage. It will be the death of you."

Rush responded quickly, "What do expect us to do? Earth is in danger and Destiny, at the moment, is the only thing protecting it."

Becoming frustrated, Abbie retorted, "Rush! Do you have a death wish? It would be suicide. Give us time to think and let us engage. We have better shields and Destiny isn't in any shape to fight. Go back and protect the SGC."

Abbie didn't wait to see if Rush did what she had told him to. He would when faced with death. He cared about himself first. Abbie walked onto the balcony. Looking down, she saw Dacey looking up at her.

"Major Dacey Sheppard, please come up here."

Dacey nodded and stood. She jogged all the way to Abbie. Zola and Wen stepped forward to join the discussion. Dacey stopped a few feet from Abbie, completing the half circle. She spoke first, "Yeah Abbie. Please tell me to do something. I can't stand this waiting."

Abbie hit her earpiece, "Shaun, do you have the drones done yet? We're running out of time. We need a plan now."

"No, we don't have the codes done. We are about half done."

Abbie shook her head. They wouldn't finish in time. "Head to the chair room. Fire everything we have."

She turned to the semicircle and spoke instructions, "Dacey, contact the Marines with the Ancient gene and tell them to get into the Puddle Jumpers and F-22s. I also have to ask you to think of an alternative of how to destroy the hive. I'm not ready to athorize the extreme messures you want but, I will think about it. Zola and Wen, I need you to stay close."

Abbie turned and left the balcony. She stepped up to the window overlooking the gate room, leaving Zola and Wen puzzled over what messures she spoke of. Zola turned to face Dacey as Wen kept staring after Abbie.

As Dacey finished telling all the Marines with the gene to get the Jumper bay, Zola asked, "How do you want to destroy the hive?" A few seconds passed and Atlantis rocked again. Wen finally faced Dacey.

"I wanted to gate to the ship and plant a bomb at the core. I figured if I died, it would just be one last person."

Zola opened her mouth to speak as Dacey's earpiece sounded with a chirp. Dacey hit the thing and a few Marines spoke. They were in position. Dacey ordered them to take off and engage the enemy and fly in pairs. When she was done, she looked at Zola with expectant raised eyebrows. "For starters, that would be suicide! Secondly, you are the Major, you can't just leave your people. And besides, how do you know where the core is? We haven't met a ship exactly like this before!"

Dacey became frustrated. Her grey eyes flashed anger as she began to defend herself, "Yeah, well, at least I would have died doing something! And If I died, at least it would have been my mistake and me! If I come up with a big mistake, many could die."

Dacey stomped off to the chairroom. Zola gaped after Dacey. Wen barely turned to watch her. Zola walked up to Abbie. "You can't seriously be considering what Dacey is proposing." Zola leaned towards her and stuck her thumb in Dacey's direction. "She'll get herself killed. You would lose your best military man."

Abbie glanced at Zola, "We may have no choice. The Puddle Jumpers and F-22s may distract the ship but, if we can't get a weapon we can use against them, we will fail and Earth will be culled. I can't let that happen. Nobody deserves that."

Abbie began walking to the communication console as Atlantis shook. Reaching it, she said, "Patch my earpiece in to the SGC." The soldier quickly began rearranging crystals. The soldier looked up after a moment. He was clearly done. Abbie tapped her earpiece and started, "General Mitchell, this is Atlantis. Please respond."

For what seemed like an eternity, silence hung in the air. There wasn't even static. Finally, Mitchell spoke, "This is the SGC, what the hell is going on up there? I haven't seen a fight this big since Aunt Nelly challenged my cousin for the last roll at supper. Our sensors were knocked out and we have literally been skakin' in our boots."

"Atlantis came to Earth as fast as possible but, the alien ship got here first. We are trying to defend Earth. However, the ship is too advanced. We can't keep this up forever. Any suggestions would be great."

The communications went silent and Abbie worried the SGC had been destroyed. She tilted her head to see the screen with the sensors up. The dot representing Destiny was moving away from the scene. Abbie thanked a higher being for giving her that one miracle. When Abbie had concluded the SGC was gone, the link began to produce static. Then Mitchell started talking, "I'm sorry baby, we've got nothing here. Your mother, Sam, can't even think of anything. She said she would try to."

Abbie released breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Sighing, Abbie knew what had to be done. She pushed off the console and swiveled to look at the gateroom. She walked onto the balcony.

Abbie hit her earpiece and said, "Abbie to Dacey."

Dacey replied instantly, "Abbie, this is the major."

Abbie sighed and then said, "I might need you to go to the ship. Unless you have any other options, I will have no choice."

Dacey told Abbie, after a second of static, "No. I have nothing. I will do this. Let me do this."

"You can go alone or take a small team. When you're ready, go to the rings and ring over to the ship. Contact me before you leave. Keep this mission on a need to know basis; I don't want to alarm anybody. We are desperate, please, don't fail me."

Dacey nodded and started jogging to the new transport rings. Atlantis hand got her own modified set at the last overhaul. The rings were bigger than regular ones, so they could ring Puddle Jumpers. The ringroom was a floor few floors below; it was right off the Puddle Jumper bay. Dacey debated whether to go alone or not. She hit her earpiece came to her, "Dacey to Zola, Wen, and Shaun. Meet me in the ringroom and don't tell anyone where you are going. Shaun, bring a naquadah bomb, lifesigns detector, and a pad."

Three voices spoke as one, "On my way."

Dacey stopped in front of the door to the room. She waved her hand over the control crystal panel. The door made no sound as it slid open. The room was barely large enough to hold the rings and the control console on the far side of the room. Dacey glided stalked to the console and looked down at the control crystals. The crystals looked like the ones in the gateroom control but, they had different symbols on them. She pressed a few down and a holographic screen popped up in front of Dacey. It showed all the transport rings close by that could be transported to. She scanned the map, searching. Finally, at last her eye fell on a ring system in the hive. Smiling, she congratulated herself; she had been right, that since the hive was half Ori, it had an Ori ring system. Dacey pressed another crystal down and the hive rings lit up. Dacey left the console like that and walked to the middle of the room and waited. Now, if the Wraith transported over soldiers, she would get on their ship undetected. It took only a few more minutes for Zola and Wen to arrive. Shaun took slightly longer but, he showed up with the bomb and was armed. Attached to his vest was a P-90. The trio came and stopped in front of Dacey; all of them waited for orders.

"Ok. We are going to ring over to the hive. When we get there, prepare to be fired on. I don't want anyone dead. Then, we'll find the core and blow up the whole damn ship. Got it?"

Zola and Wen stared at her in serious ways that suggested they would but, they didn't want to. Shaun opened his mouth and gawked. Finally, shaking himself out of his shock he said, "What?" His voice broke as his pitch went way up. "You have got to be kidding me. We are going to this ship that not only can damage Atlantis but, beat us to Earth?!"

Dacey glared at him as she walked to the console and pushed one crystal, the one to ring to the selected ring system. Dacey paced back to the ring and stopped in the middle. Before Shaun could step out, the rings came up from the floor. White light blinded the four as they were dematerialized and transported.

The rings came up in the Wraith hive. A second later, a white light filled the room, emanating from inside the rings. Four people materialized inside the rings. These rings were smaller and four people filled up most of the space. Dacey and Wen automatically fell to one knee. Zola brought up her gun and looked around for Wraith. Shaun's eyes widened and he fumbled with the P-90. As he raised his weapon, he dropped the lifesigns detector and shoved the bomb into a bag on his vest. Dacey held her hand up for silence and Shaun looked up with alarm. Dacey pivoted on her foot to get a 360 view. No Wraith appeared. The room was fairly tiny and held only the rings and a control panel on the wall. The room looked just like a Wraith hive, except the panel was clearly Ori and so were the rings. Wen stepped to the side of the door. She stood far enough away so it did not open automatically. Dacey stood and took a step back so that she was beside Shaun.

She whispered, "Where are we? And pick up the damn life-signs detector. We need to find the ship's core. Any clue where it is?"

Shaun leaned down and swiped up the device. He shifted on the screen. He nodded and replied, "Yeah, I think so, not like I have much of a choice now anyway. I calibrated this detector to find the biggest energy output. The machine that does should be the generator for the ship. So, if I'm correct, the core should be three rooms to our left and two floors down."

Dacey stepped to the opposite side of the door from Wen. Zola motioned for Shaun to move beside Wen. Confusion made his eyebrows curve down. A few seconds later, he understood and did as he was told. Zola then moved forward, still crouching. The door, which looked like skinned road-kill, slid open silently. Dacey gave Wen a slight nod. Both women nearly jumped into the hallways. They had swiveled and were back-to-back. The hall was just as empty and to the shock of the group, no Wraith came. Dacey held out her hand and flipped her fingers, motioning for the remaining two. Zola came and Shaun walked out. He glanced down at his detector.

"Go left. At the end of the hallway, turn right."

Dacey led. The trio followed. Multiple doors lined either side of the passage and Wen became twitchy. Her short dreadlocks flipped and hit her shoulders. Zola moved stealthily, looking only forward. Finally, the end of the hall came. The passage T-ed. Per the instruction of Shaun, Dacey led them right. This hall, however, was different; it wasn't Wraith looking, it looked Ori. The walls were white and smooth with gray panels on the bottom. Lights shined above the groups head on the walls. Ori symbols plagued the wall surface. Gray material coated the floor and ceiling. Dacey waited for Shaun to speak as she crept forward. Doors passed by and he said nothing. After about ten doors, Shaun halted in his steps. Slowly, he turned and faced the door on the left wall and walked in.

Dacey whispered to the other two, "I guess that's our ticket down," as she started towards the door.

The four were finally on the right floor. They hadn't seen a single living being. This made all of them jumpy and paranoid. They should have seen someone or something. The group had seen so many doors pass; they had lost count and were confused as to where they were. However, Shaun walked with such confidence they couldn't help but follow. Apparently he had reached the correct door, because he stopped suddenly. The others did also. Wen turned her back to them and raised Ronon's gun. Zola turned hers on kill and raised it in her right hand, while still holding the P-90 in her left. Shaun glanced at Dacey and then back at the door before saying, "I think there are Wraith inside but, I can't be sure."

"Does your life-signs detector say so or not?"

Shaun looked guilty and muttered, "No, I hear them talking. The detector can only read energy."

Dacey gave a looked that said she couldn't believe her ears. Shaun quickly brought his hand up, indicating for her to lead. Going back to a serious look, Dacey stepped up to the door. Immediately a Wraith fired at her from inside. The stun blast went above her head as she ducked. Her bullets unloaded into his armor, he was a soldier. The mask on his face flew off as Zola shot him with her borrowed gun from Ronon. The body fell to the floor as another Wraith soldier took his place. The room was elongated and only one could stand in the middle at a time. Bullets whizzed everywhere. Stun blast missed their targets by inches. When a soldier fell, another stepped forward to replace him. After at least a dozen bodies littered the floor, no more came. Dacey hesitantly stepped further into the hall. Still staring ahead and ready to fire she said, "Shaun, how much further 'till we reach the core?"

Shaun glanced nervously at his life-signs detector. "It should be straight ahead."

Dacey continued forward. Why had the Wraith only been stationed in this hall? Why had the other halls all been empty? These thoughts whirled in Dacey's head as she scooted forward.

The group shuffled onward. After a few meters, the passage opened into an unusually large room. In the very middle, inside an Ori-made metal circle, floated a huge white ball of light. Wraith skin like material, used to make the hives' walls, covered part of the circle and supported the ball. This was the core. Every member of the team stared in awe for a moment. Dacey was the first to recover, "Shaun, set up the bomb. Zola, Wen, cover him. I want this to be quick. I want to get home in time for dinner."

Zola nodded and moved to the left. Wen simply began to the right, never fully acknowledging what she had heard. Shaun opened the bag at his waist and carefully removed the device. He set it underneath the metal ringing the sphere. Dacey placed her back to him, pointing her gun down the hallway. Behind her, Shaun frantically started opening the naquadah bomb. Zola and Wen paced around the sides of the core.

Shaun swiped his forehead with his sleeve, wiping away sweat. Dacey could feel her skin becoming wet with her own sweat. "Dacey, I'm done setting the bomb. Can we go now?" Shaun said nervously. Dacey never moved or wavered but replied, "Alright, find the quickest way out of here. We need to bug out before the Wraith discover we killed their poor foot soldiers."

Shaun grabbed his life-signs detector and pressed on the screen a few times. "Oh no. We are totally screwed." He looked up. The others registered his alarm.

Zola spoke before Dacey could, "Well, what is it? I hate guessing."

"A squad of twenty Wraith are at the only door out of the room. There isn't another way out." Dacey frowned as it sunk in. Wen didn't utter a sound but, her face became stonier. Zola's eyes betrayed her despair.

Dacey squared her shoulders and concluded, "We will have to fight our way. Atlantis and Earth are counting on us. Shaun, give Wen the bomb detonator. She can withstand the most stun gun shots. Wen, no matter what, destroy this ship."

Shaun handed Wen the detonator. Wen took it roughly and nodded at Dacey. Her gravelly voice said, "I will. Don't let it come to that."

Dacey stepped back down the hall. Shaun brought his P-90 up and trudged behind, followed by Wen and Zola. The door automatically opened when the few came within range. Dacey opened fired as the two panels split to reveal Wraith standing in a semicircle. Her bullets buried into their armor and the soldiers fell one by one. Stun blasts headed towards Dacey. She dodged many but, finally, one clipped her in the chest. Dacey fell into a leaning position against the wall of the hall. Shaun looked at Dacey in horror. He closed his eyes and began firing blindly. A stun blast from a Wraith in the back of the semicircle hit Shaun in the shoulder. He crumpled on top of Dacey. Zola opened fire and kneeled. Wen shot above her head. When most of the Wraith had fallen, the rest retreated. Zola and Wen grabbed Dacey and Shaun and hauled them into the hall. Wen turned the corner and aimed her gun where the Wraith should have been. They were too fast though and were already gone. She hissed and looked down at the two crumpled bodies. Zola stood about a foot away, standing with her hands up and facing the direction behind Wen. Panic was plain on her face. Puzzled, Wen slowly turned to look in that direction. Five Wraith soldiers had their guns pointed at Zola and Wen. The group parted to reveal a Wraith Queen. She had white hair and wore a red dress. It had sleeves that came to points on her hands. The bottom edge had small iron-looking spikes pointing to the floor, hiding her shoes. The dress was a V neck and the V came down quite far. Shoulder pads with rather large spikes accented the hem. A belt of metal encircled her waist. It held one simple stunner.

Her skin was pale and few tattoos broke the pale surface. She inclined her head and hissed, "How dare you come here! This was your suicides. You insult me by believing a simple team of _humans _could destroy my ship. For that you will pay." The Queen cocked her head to the right and ordered, "Stun them and put them in a holding cell until I choose to feed."

Wen raised her weapon to quickly fire but, alas she was too slow. Three stun blasts hit her and two hit Zola. Zola fell onto the floor. Wen went to her knees. With her last bit of defiance, she pulled out the detonator and set off the bomb. Lights flickered and the Queen screamed in frustration. The Queen yelled, "Go see the damage done and restore the engine. We will destroy Earth!" With that, she stomped off down the hall. A soldier picked up a person each. The last went towards the engine room. Wen's soldier was behind Zola's and last. Regaining some hope, she elbowed the guy and fired his own stunner at him. Zola's soldier dropped her and turned to fire. Wen got him first and prepared to fire on the others. However, the remaining two slung Shaun and Dacey over their shoulders and sprinted around the corner to the right. Wen debated and decided. She leaned down and pulled Zola over her own shoulder. Wen began heading towards the rings. She put the stunner in her holster and pulled Ronon's gun. Next, she took Zola's gun she had borrowed from Ronon. Pointing both in front of her, she started to the rings.

In the ring room, Wen laid Zola in the center of the ring. She went to the panel on the wall and pressed a few buttons. Wen limped to the center of the ring. After a few seconds, the rings activated and enveloped the duo in white light.

Chapter 4

Dacey and Shaun woke up in a Wraith cell. They both wore only their base clothes and no longer had any weapons. Dacey stood and looked around the room. Arching metal panels made up the walls. An Ori symbol was laid into the closed metal door. Shaun was asleep on the floor next to Dacey's feet. Squatting, she began shaking his shoulder. He mumbled something about sleeping longer. Dacey stopped, waited a few seconds, shrugged, and slapped him hard across the face. Shaun bolted up and jumped against a wall. Dacey raised her eyebrows as he relaxed, realizing it was her. He rubbed his cheek as it became red, "What was that for?"

"You wouldn't wake up. We need to find a way out of here. Any ideas?" Shaun shook his head. Sighing, Dacey approached the door. It didn't slide open. She looked around the room, as did Shaun. She saw nothing but, he spotted a panel. Crouching, he slid over to it. It was low and near the door. "Do you have anything I can pry it open with?"

Dacey shook her head. A light bulb went off in Dacey's head. "Wait, I do." She unclasped her necklace and handed it to Shaun. On the end was a stainless steel arrowhead. Shaun began to sweat again, so he wiped his hands on his pants. Grasping the necklace, he wedged it between the wall and the edge of the panel. He put pressure upon it and the panel gave a pop as it came out. Dacey caught it and set it on the floor behind her. Inside the wall, wires crossed and connected everywhere, in seemingly no order. Shaun cocked his head towards Dacey, "Give me a minute."

Dacey waited. Shaun became engrossed as he rewired and connected different wires. A spark lit between a few wires multiple times and caused Shaun to shake his hand in pain and curse. Sweat coated him in a thick layer now, forcing him to repeatedly wipe his hands on his pants. When the wait came close to an hour, Shaun finally leaned back on his haunches. "I'm done. I'm sorry but, I refuse to open the door."

Dacey gaped and replied, "Why the bloody hell not? That is our ticket out of here!"

Shaun stared at the ground like a metal floor was the most interesting thing in the world. Finally, "It would mean one of us would die. To get the door to open, we need to stop the flow of electricity in the red wires. I can't stop it with anything we have. It would burn right through in a second. To short-circuit the door and make it stay open, we have to cut the power for about half a minute. I can't bend the wire to cut the energy so, I have to put something big in the way. I have to put one of us in the way. If I stuck my hand between the wires, it would work; it would also mean my death."

Dacey looked down. "In that case, we can find another way. Can you pry open the door?"

Shaun met her eyes with a sad look and shook his head.

Zola and Wen crumpled in the middle of the Atlantis ring. Marines surrounded the ring and advanced until they realized who it was. One yelled for a medic. Two burly soldiers stepped forward and lifted Zola and Wen, bride style. Wen finally let go of consciousness and fell into blackness.

Abbie stood on the balcony overlooking the gateroom. A slight woman Marine scurried up. "Ma'am, Wen and Zola just came back via the rings. Both were stunned and are in the infirmary." Abbie widened her eyes and sprinted from the room headed towards the infirmary. When she arrived, Wen was fighting with a nurse who was trying to put an IV in her. Wen wasn't in a hospital gown, the ones that showed your but, like Zola either. She pointed Ronon's gun at the poor male nurse and advanced on him. He was trying to talk his way out of being shot at the moment. "…let me put an IV in you and I will leave you alone. This doesn't call for a gun fight."

"This isn't a fight; I'm the only one with a gun. And I don't have time. I need to go back to the hive. The Wraith have Dacey and Shaun. Move."

The nurse raised his arms in defeat when Abbie broke in, "Wen, put down the gun. Let him do what he needs. I can't have you hurt _and_ have the other two missing."

Wen bared her teeth as she lowered her gun and put it in the holster. A Wraith stunner and a blue gun, like Ronon's, were at her feet. The nurse hesitantly stepped forward and stuck her in her outstretched arm. Clearly he didn't want to be shot today.

Once the IV was in, the nurse handed her the bag with antibiotics in it. She hissed at him. The nurse panicked and scuttled backwards, almost tripping as he went. Abbie shook her head and stood firmly. "You said the Wraith had Dacey and Shaun. Tell me the whole story, from the time when you left."

Wen began the story, not stopping for breathe until she was done. When finished she waited stonily for a response. Abbie held her face in her hands. She rubbed her cheeks hard and dropped her hands and stood with her hands on her hips, putting most of her weight on her left foot. "This is worse than I thought. I mean, the bomb barely damaged it, which means they must have it shielded somehow. That means they have advanced tech and will be hard to take down. I don't know what to do about Dacey and Shaun. I don't even know if they are still alive." Abbie waved her hands around for emphasis. She was right and Wen knew it but, she would not abandon her people.

"Let me go back. I don't need Zola or any other human to protect me. I need Satedans. Let me take my father. He can cover me and together, we can take down the hive. Right now it's crimpled. We need to strike before it repairs itself."

Abbie considered it. She seriously considered it. Ronon could kill an army by himself and Abbie had no doubt in her mind his daughter was any different. "Wait a while to see if Rodney can do anything. If not, I will let you and Ronon go. Know that if you do, you will be on your own. I can't spare any Marines or personnel."

Wen hesitated, then nodded. With that out of the way, Wen went to the nearest medical bed and sat down, reclining a bit. The beds all around her were empty and she looked pleased they were. Abbie walked out the door, headed for Rodney.

Rodney typed fast on his laptop. This was the last alga rhythm for the drone code. If he could finish it, he could download it to as many as needed. Numbers flew across the screen as the computer tried to keep up with him. He was concentrating so hard, he barely heard Abbie come in. He realized she was standing in the doorway when she spoke, "Rodney," Rodney jumped and almost fell off his stool, "Are you almost done with the modification? We need to eliminate the hive." Rodney smiled, snapped his fingers, and pointed at the laptop. "I'm almost done. You see, I think I have figured out the weakness of the ship. From what I've gathered, Wraith are running the show, not Ori followers; I assume the Wraith fed on all of them. So, I just had to come up with a chemical the drones could release on impact that would destroy the hive ship's organic parts and inhabitants. Where's Shaun, by the way? My own son can keep up with my mind and I enjoy impressing someone as smart as me."

Abbie hadn't realized he hadn't been told. She jutted out her chin, just like Carter used to do, and said, "Well, Rodney, he … I mean…" She sighed and took a deep breath, "Shaun is still on the hive. He and Dacey were captured when they went to set the bomb in the core. They were stunned and the soldiers took them. There wasn't a thing Zola or Wen could have done."

Rodney looked shocked, then softened and his face appeared to age years. The gray hair he had stood out; the wrinkles seemed to deepen. Abbie noticed how much affect it had on him. He cared so much about Shaun. After all, he was his oldest son. Sure he had another but, he was in college and not as much like Rodney. Rodney spoke quietly, "Oh, I see. Well… in that case I can't release the drones. You have to send someone to get them."

"Rodney, they might not even be alive. We have to use the drones while we can. I-"

"No!" Rodney stood abruptly, knocking over his chair. "Send someone to get him. I won't let you fire the drones. If you do, they will destroy every living thing on that ship, including my son. Now, be a good little girlie and get my son back. Get him and I will fire the drones myself."

Abbie raised her hands to calm him. "Rodney, I will. Ronon and Wen have already volunteered. We will get them if they are still alive. What makes you think he isn't dead yet?"

"He's my son, I can't afford to think like that." With that, he turned back to his laptop and began typing again, ignoring the stool on the floor.

Dacey pulled her knees to her chest and thought. What could they do? Shaun was eying the wires. He debated whether to stick his hand in. He would die for Dacey any day. She was the gravity of his world. He wasn't scared to die. After all, everybody died one day; at least he would get to choose his day. Besides, death wasn't bad, it made life worth living. He certainly had no regrets. Well, one but, he could change that before he died. Besides that, he was ready.

Shaun was about to do it when Dacey caught him staring at the wires. She reached over and grabbed his hands gently and pulled him to her. He stopped when he was crossed legged right next to her. She leaned against him and closed her eyes. He closed his as he took a deep breath. She smelled like metal and vanilla, like always. It was a rather odd combo but, to him it was perfect. He didn't know why she smelled like that all the time and didn't care. She shifted and laid her head on his shoulder. Shaun, in turn, rested his head on the top of hers.

Ronon and Wen were inside the shooting range in Atlantis. Targets were set up as far away as possible. They showed a human figure with various target circles that were red. Ronon stood next to his daughter while both shot at their own targets. Wen had her matching Satedan pistol to match his and they were blowing large holes in the targets. After a few more shots, both daughter and father lowered their weapons and left the room.

They both didn't move for a long time. He knew she needed to get her moment of being scared and not have to fight or protect anyone, to keep her sanity. He needed his own moment to steel himself to do what he needed to.

Finally Dacey whispered as her eyes fluttered open, "We have to think of something. I refuse to be fed on, especially that stuck up Queen." Her mouth set into a firm line as she muttered the statement. Shaun agreed, he would rather be electrified.

He raised his head so he could see her face. She looked up to his, wondering what he would say. "I won't be fed on either… Promise me you'll get out of here. "

"We will. I promise. Have you thought of any way to get the door open?"

Shaun frowned. Dacey instantly knew he hadn't.

Dacey said, "I refuse to die at the hands of the Wraith, like my dad."

Shaun nodded and told her, "I know. I won't let you."

She sighed and put her head back where it had been before.

Abbie was briefing Ronon and Wen, in the ring room. "As I said before, I want you to get in and get out. The Wraith most likely know we will send people to rescue them. I think it's very likely you will be surrounded the minute you step through the rings. Be careful."

Ronon and Wen adjusted their matching leather belts and tied up their dreadlocks. Both wore leather sleeveless vests and long pants. Ronon had his red gun in his hand, set on stun. Wen was in the same position with a blue one. Both switched the guns' settings to kill. Wen resembled her father, in the way that her features were fierce and Satedan looking. Abbie looked affectionately at both. They had become her family since she had come to Atlantis. Stepping forward, Abbie grabbed both and pulled them into a bear hug. Ronon awkwardly stood still while Wen patted Abbie slowly on the back. She stepped back and the duo stepped into the center of the giant ring. Ronon gave a slight nod. Abbie pressed a few buttons on the console. A few seconds later, the rings came up and enveloped the two in white light.

On the Wraith hive, the rings came up and white light indicated an incoming traveler. Wraith soldiers brought up their stunners to shoot. Wen and Ronon began shooting as the rings disappeared back into the floor. Stun blasts assailed them but, all missed. When all nine of the Wraith had fallen, Wen followed Ronon out of the ring. The door opened as they approached. Wen and Ronon jumped into the hallway, facing opposite each other. The hall had no Wraith. Ronon began walking forwards and his daughter pivoted and followed. Ronon grabbed a life-signs detector from a case on his belt. It showed multiple dots. A few were moving quickly towards them from a passage that T-ed into theirs. Wen glanced at the device while she turned down an empty hall. "Father, go to a map of the entire deck. Find the holding cells."

Ronon pressed on the edge of the touch screen. Instantly, a map of the deck appeared. A concentration of dots appeared a little ways away. Wen guessed this was the section of the hive for prisoners. Wen poked the screen at this cluster of dots and a bright white dot appeared over the blue ones. Ronon understood; that was their destination. Moving forward, the hall shifted from skin-like walls to Ori metal. The metal on the bottom of the walls arched and revealed blue circuitry. Wen's soft leather boots made no sound on the smooth metal floor. The map automatically zoomed as the two came closer to the blue dot. As they neared the target, a dozen blue dots appeared on the edge of the screen, heading straight for them. Wen glanced to Ronon, waiting for orders. Ronon raised his right hand and motioned for her to go to the opposite wall. Wen slid her back against the wall and held up the blaster. Wraith marched around the corner, carrying Ori staff weapons. This sudden revelation made her falter. Wraith soldiers usually used stunners from their own race's manufacturing. She came out of her shock when she heard Ronon fire. Shaking her head, she shot at the first orderly line of the Wraith unit. Shots fired from the staff weapons hit the wall in front of Wen. One finally reached her and burned through her pants and seared her lower thigh. She yelled a fierce warrior cry as she shot the soldier through the heart, or at least where she assumed it was. Ronon dodged a blast as he took down another. Wen took down the one next with a blast to the head. Ronon ducked as an Ori staff blast flew a few inches above his head. The Wraith began falling on top of their dead comrades as they died. When the last was down, Wen and Ronon stood and paced to the middle of the hall. Ronon bent and surveyed her left thigh. He poked it and Wen could taste blood in her mouth as she bit her tongue to prevent screaming. Ronon ripped a strip of cloth from his shirt and tied the strip around the burn, to prevent it from being ripped open and bleeding. He stood, "Ready?" Wen nodded. Wen tested her leg as Ronon turned and continued down the hall. Wen quietly hissed as pain shot up her leg. Closing her eyes, she concentrated. After a few seconds, she opened them and started after her father. Wen limped but, caught up quickly.

Dacey flew to her feet as the sound of multiple guns being fired reached her. She could hear things falling on the floor. What was happening? The door in front of her was hit with multiple shots from what sounded oddly familiar. Still, the door didn't open. After the blasts stopped, a voice called, "Shaun, Dacey?"

It was Ronon. Shaun had stood and came to reside next to Dacey while the door had been shot. He smiled and yelled, "We're in here!" Dacey placed her palms on the door as she smiled. "I assume when is with you?"

Silence stretched between them. Finally, Wen asked, "How do we get the door open?"

Ronon muttered, "Shoot it."

Shaun snapped his fingers a few times and pointed to the door, a trait he picked up from Rodney. "Ok, if you haven't shot it, there should be a panel on the right side of the door. The cover plate should have an Ori symbol on it."

Metal scraped against metal as they slid it across to reveal keys on the inside. Ronon frowned as Wen said, "Yes. There are a bunch of random keys. Now what?"

"Describe the symbols to me. If there is one with the Ori symbol, don't push it."

Ronon's frown deepened, "Why?"

"Look, it would set off the alarms. It's a distress button."

Ronon lifted his eyebrow and turned his back to the door, surveying the hall. He glanced down at the detector. It showed nothing. Wen was describing the keys; each was a curved or straight line with dots everywhere.

Shaun's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. The keys were unfamiliar. They were different than the older Wraith's language and consoles. He muttered, "Dang it. Alright, press the button in the middle. It is most likely the middle because it is most important."

Wen jammed the button and the door opened. Shaun relaxed and appeared relieved it had even worked. A white smile spread across Dacey's face as she stepped into the hall beside Shaun. Stepping into the hall, Dacey muttered something to herself in Slavic. Wen pulled a pistol from a holder on her leg under her pants and handed it to Dacey. She took it and brought it up to survey the hall. She was annoyed that she no longer had her weapons or vest. She deftly took the life signs detector when it was thrust into her free hand. Ronon fell in line with her as she began towards the transport rings. Suddenly, the air around the group shimmered and turned white. The next thing they saw was the bridge of the _George Hammond. _The commander, Siler, sat in the cushy chair for the commander. He looked up and said, "My ship just arrived. We were on the far side of the Pegasus galaxy. What can we do to help?" The group lowered their weapons. Dacey stepped forward, "We need to draw the hive away from Earth and manage to contact… the Travelers. We need people who have advanced ships."

Siler nodded and turned to a scientist who had appeared, with a pad, at his side. He whispered something to her and she walked away. "Dacey, take your team to the ring room and we will transport you back to Atlantis. In the meantime, we will distract the Wraith while you contact your sister."

Dacey turned and stalked out of the room, at the mention of her sister. Shaun sighed and followed. Wen and Ronon shoved their guns back in the holsters and trudged behind, disappointed they wouldn't get another fight. Before the group could ring to Atlantis, the hive turned and fled. It was obvious they would return after making a few repairs. The only certain thing was that they were coming back.

The rings materialized the four in Atlantis's ring room. A few medic personnel appeared. Jennifer Keller gave her son a hug and turned her attention to Wen's wound. A stretcher was wheeled in from the hall. Wen grimaced but, hopped on. Keller pushed her out, aiming for the infirmary. Dacey began down the hall for the control room with Shaun and Ronon in tow. When she got there, Abbie turned from the screen hanging behind control consoles. A damage report on the _Hammond _popped up as it took another hit. "Major, I need options."

"We need to contact my sister. Last time I checked, she ran the show with the Travelers and we are going to need their help to win this. Permission…"

"Granted," She turned to Zelenka, who was working on a science console. "Dial up the Stargate on the lead Traveler ship. With any luck, Lin will be on board and in command."

The frazzled Czech nodded and dialed quickly. His glasses were askew and he absent mindedly shoved them up his nose. Radek dialed; the Stargate symbols locked and the wormhole exploded outward in a burst of blue. Dacey watched it lock. Once it was, she took the stair two at a time to the Stargate. With no hesitation, she stepped through the event horizon.

On the other side, security persons stood with guns pointed at the gate. Dacey stepped through into a Traveler ship. Wires and tubes hung from the ceiling. The bronze metal clanged under Dacey's boots. She reflexively put her arms up in surrender. A woman approached from behind the officers. Her wavy auburn hair hung past her shoulders, framing a pale face with large green eyes. It was her baby sister, Lin. Her thin frame seemed imposing in her dark brown pants and long sleeved shirt. She glanced to the officer beside her and said, "You can lower your weapons. It is my sister."

They did as they were told while Lin lowered a glare to Dacey while Dacey lowered her arms to her sides. "Why are you here? You know I dislike _your_ company."

Dacey gave a tight smile, "Nice to see you too. Not exactly a warm welcome but, I didn't expect one. I didn't come on a personal visit. Atlantis needs help and we need the Travelers. You are our only allies with engines advanced enough to reach Earth in less than an hour."

Lin stuck her chin out and placed her hands on her hips. "Fine. Just because I dislike you doesn't mean I won't help. Are you under attack? And, if so, by who?"

"Wraith with an Ori ship. They combined the technologies in a… deadly way. Our ships can hold their own against Hives but, they are having issues, if you know what I mean."

Lin cocked her head and pretended to consider her options. After a few moments she replied, "I will bring my ship and request two of the other Traveler ships to come. I also may have an ally that will help. They have space faring ships. However, they don't use them and hide. To convince them, you will have to come and ask yourself. They don't like go-betweens. Are you prepared to gate to their world now?"

Chapter 5

Dacey stepped onto the ally's planet, followed by her team consisting of Wen, Zola, Shaun, Lin, and another two Travelers. Lin pursed her lips and eyed Dacey, "Was it really necessary to get your team? Time is of the essence, as our dad would say."

The group spread out in the small clearing they found themselves in. Jungle trees surrounded them and far in the distance a bird sang sweetly. The duel suns seemed to be setting and light was disappearing. Lin strode forward and thrust her foot onto a patch of grass. Instantly, a bell rang nearby. Puzzled, all of the Atlantis team's eyebrows knit together. After a few minutes, a slight woman broke through the foliage behind them. Turning, Dacey instinctively wanted to raise a weapon but, as to appear friendly, the entire team was unarmed. The woman had chocolate skin. Her hair, which was tied back in a long braid, nails, and eyebrows were white. White dots in lines and patterns danced over her skin. The eyes immediately caught the group's attention. They were neon green and seemed to nearly glow. Hides, the color of her skin, made up her simple tunic and leggings; she wore no shoes or jewelry of any kind. In her hand was a bow and its matching sheath was strapped around her waist. Seeing Lin, she smiled and slid the bow around her chest so that the wood touched her back and stuck over her shoulder. The alien raised her right arm and Lin moved to her and clasped it, in a warrior-like greeting. The woman stood straight as Lin approached. Dacey noticed she had to be at least six foot tall.

The alien spoke with much dictation, "It has been nearly one of our months since you were here. Tell me, why have you come? Is it to trade, or are you here to see my people and share our table?"

Lin bowed gave a half-smile and released her arm. "I'm sorry Allanni but, I came to ask for your help. My sister's city is under attack and can't win the battle."

The alien seemed disappointed while she lowered her head. "It is a shame. Who have you brought me?"

With the last word, she cocked her head and peered around Lin's shoulder to the rest. Dacey waved and stepped forward, "Hey, I'm from Atlantis. We bit off more than we can chew and I was hoping you could fly to the rescue. Do you even have ships? Because, you don't look like a person who is used to a highly advanced life, if you get what I mean."

This seemed to crack the alien, Allanni up. She threw back his head and released a hardy laugh. Her hand shot to her stomach as the sound emanated. Lowering her head and swiping away a tear she said, "No, we do not appear as advanced as we truly are. My people have chosen to live a simple life with a few science objects than to be ruled by our technology. However, we do possess ships capable of traveling through a galaxy in a small time. Come with me and I shall show you. Will you not introduce me to your group first?"

Dacey's eyes widened as she remembered they were behind her. Turning, she saw them all shuffle on their feet uncomfortably. "Yeah! This is my team, Zola, Wen, and Shaun," She said as she held up her hand to indicate each person. Allanni smiled passively. She did not ask who the Travelers were, for she probably already knew. Giving a quick nod, she turned and pushed through the odd, jungle looking plants. Lin carefully followed with her Travelers. Like a silent agreement, Zola went first, then Wen, followed by Shaun, who Dacey followed. The procession walked in a single file for, after checking her watch, Dacey knew was about three hours before Shaun fell back to speak.

"How much longer? And do you think they can really help? And why do they have the white spots?"

Dacey sighed and swiped a few beads of sweat from her eyes, "I don't know how long, I don't know if they can really help, and you are the scientist, so you should really find out about the spots yourself."

Shaun grimaced and moved ahead again. As he did, the group emerged from the dense jungle to find they were in a valley, surrounded on all sides by trees. Small grass huts were huddled together in a large cluster in the middle. Even tinier ones lay scattered in the area near the trees. In the very center of the cluster, a large hut with pillars of wood at the entrance stood. Allanni made a beeline for this particular building.

Stepping over a clump of dirt at the entrance, Allanni entered the building through the large wooden door. The entire group entered to find a spacious room with walls that were entirely cover with braided and weaved vines. It the center, a little hatch led into an underground dirt room. Lights glowed strongly from the ceiling. Tables littered the dirt floor and on them, computers sat. They contrasted everything the group had seen. The computers were slim and gray metal, with keyboards full of foreign text. One keyboard had keys with the gate symbols upon them. Tablets, not unlike those on Atlantis, were randomly placed on tables.

Allanni spread her arms wide and spoke. "This is only the beginning of our advancements. We have, since we are a scientific kind, made many technologies, including ships." Allanni turned to face Shaun as she lowered her arms. "I believe you wish to know why our spots are so. I allow you, in good faith, to use one of our tablets to find the answer. We, ourselves, never cared to find it." With that, she handed him a tablet from the nearest table.

Shaun hissed as the cold metal stung his hands. He gave a tight smile and thanked her. She dipped her head. Next, she turned to Dacey and Lin, who stood side by side without realizing it. "I will take you to the ships. They are unused but, I know will operate. Our ancestors built ones from the same basic design and managed to reach the stars."

Allanni paced to the far wall and pressed both palms directly in the center and gave a slight push and then stepped back. The dirt slid back and retracted into the section of wall to the left, leaving a door sized opening. Allanni stepped into the dark hallway. Dacey reacted first and followed. As Allanni went deeper, something strange happened. Her hair, the dots, eyes, and nails began to glow, like the special posters and nail polish on Earth. Never wavering, Allanni continued until she reached a light post at the end of the passage while Dacey stopped. It illuminated the metal hall and the door at the end. A single handle and hand scanner were on its surface. Dacey's jaw dropped. She turned to Shaun, who didn't look much better.

"Shaun, tell me why she glows…. Last time I checked, it wasn't a common thing."

Shaun nodded slightly, still shocked. Lin and the Travelers were unfazed though. Lin shouldered her sister aside and made her way to the opposite door. The other Travelers did the same. Shaun pressed a few keys on his tablet. After a few rushed moments, a fruit popped up and he turned it towards Dacey so she could see. "A crystal like molecule in this fruit attaches to pigments in the skin. They then collect sun and radiate light back when it is dark."

Allanni was staring around the Travelers and said, "We are not the only creatures to do shine. All our plants and animals do in one way or another. I will show you when we once again return to the surface. For now, let us present the ships to you."

Dacey nodded and followed everyone else through the far door. On the other side, they stood on a wooden balcony, with no rail, overlooking a ship as big as the _Hammond._ It was of a green metal and was almost a perfect cylinder in shape, except for a single graceful thruster on each side. Windows lined the front and sides. Landing struts were lowered from the thrusters and front. A ramp was lowered from the right thruster. A few aliens who looked almost identical to Allanni walked around on it and the balcony. Overhead was a green metal hanger bay door. A vine ladder hung off the balcony to the dirt floor.

Lin flung herself over the side of the balcony, only to grab the ladder a few feet down and started climbing down. The other Travelers did the same. Allanni motioned for them to go first. All of the Atlantis personnel carefully scooted over the edge and descended. When all the humans were on the dirt level, they looked up and waited on Allanni, who seemed to be standing still and in no hurry. With a gleeful yell, she jumped over the edge of the upper level. Landing, she did a roll and stood. She didn't wait for them as she began towards the ramp into the ship, padding silently across the dirt. Wen raised a single eyebrow as she followed.

At the ramp, a Arhgohnnian soldier, by the looks of it, strode down and whispered to Allanni. Allanni nodded as she stopped. Turning, she addressed the group. "I'm afraid I have to find my chief of science to solve a problem. However, my Second here, will guide you and fullfil your wishes. She is called Rina and has power to say whether we will help or not." At that, she came a last dazzling smile and hurried up the ramp. Rina stood motionless for a moment, taking in the humans, as they did the same. She had yellow eyes and shorter hair, but otherwise looked similar to Allanni.

After a moment's hesitation, she gestured up the ramp with her arm. Lin nodded and paced up into the ship. After the humans, Rina advanced. Inside, clean metal with no panels in site lined the walls and floor. The smooth green metal almost seemed squishy against the boots of the group. The ceiling had intricate panels that looked like a puzzle had exploded. On the walls, simple lines indicated the outline of the doors. Single door panels slid to the side, to the inside of the wall, as Rina passed. She led them through a maze of corridors to a wide door that slid open. The room was medium sized and had touch consoles lining the opposite wall and the left one. The right one was filled entirely by a monitor screen. No seats existed everywhere.

A single alien stood, watching statistics and numbers shuffle by on the monitor. As one came up, her frown deepened. Her blue eyes stared intently on the number. Her head turned as the door slid shut behind them. Rina half smiled, revealing perfect teeth. The other female gave a slight bow of the head and shoulders before looking Rina in the eyes. "I was checking to see the statistics were correct. They were. We have officially lost New Fourth Arhgohnn, along with the ten thousand who lived there. Their three ships were also destroyed. The Ori sent six motherships there."

Rina stepped forward and placed her hands on her hips as she turned to watch the screen. "Yes, I had heard. It is a mystery why the Ori stopped there. Why not continue here, or to Third Arhgonn?"

Dacey cleared her throat as she stepped forward. She tapped her heel as she spoke, a habit picked up from her love of music. "I don't know for sure, but can guess the answer. Recently, the Wraith have, uh, refocused their intentions. They now have a hive ship with Ori tech, or the other way around, depending how you want to put it, and are gunning for Atlantis. Our gate is the only link to Earth, which would be a feeding party for them, they don't want to miss." She rocked forward on her feet as her words hit home.

Rina and the other female lifted their chins. The other one said, "I see. I suppose that means we also have a common enemy. In that case, I also suppose you came for our swords and bows, not to trade."

Dacey gave a tight smile and said, "Yeah, you could say that. We need to fight them clear off our doorstep and with a few of these ships, we could." With that Lin stepped forward, her auburn hair hitting Dacey in the face as she cocked her head. Dacey sputtered and swatted at the strands.

Lin began, "The Travelers have already given their assent and are willing to give help. I hope you can lend my sister your ships."

Rina pursed her lips and considered the proposition. The female next to her opened her mouth but, she thought better of her comment and shut it again with a loud snap as her jaws came together. After a few seconds, the two looked back at the screen but, they weren't really seeing anything on it. Rina, turned to the other Arhgohnnian. She said, "Tsunaah, bring me my war pistol. Prepare the warriors for battle. We need to stop these advanced Wraith while we can and before our losses are too great. Take One her pistol as well. Make sure she has plenty of ammunition. I feel this will be no small war."

The other female, apparently Tsunaah, scurried out of the room to do as she was told. Dacey tapped her heel and swayed one leg to a steady beat absentmindedly. Lin smiled, obviously relieved. Rina paced to a console on the far wall. She laid one palm on the screen and began tapping various shapes that appeared on the screen. After a few minutes, an image of the ship popped up. Rina tapped the entire ship and it lit up. A green dot appeared in the corner of the screen. When it did, Rina removed both her hands and spoke, "Crew and scientists, soldiers, and civilians, we are officially at war. Prepare to fly to space and engage the new enemy. Report to battle stations."

Rina tapped the screen. The green dot disappeared before the image of the entire ship dissolved back into a list of power readings. Dacey looked at the alien. Glancing at Lin for a fraction of a second, Lin picked up the question she wanted to ask. Lin began solemnly, "I hope you do not mind but, would you allow us to return to our worlds and gather our troops? We can leave a radio to communicate with and Atlantis's address. We can also make a plan before we leave."

Rina stepped away from the console and approached the group to stop in front of Dacey and Lin. She placed her hands on her hips once again as she drummed her thin fingers on her hip bone. She tipped her hand to the side. "Yes, I grant it. I will provide you with a rendezvous address and I wish to keep a radio." Rina held out her hand and Dacey removed one from a pocket and forked it over. She studied it a moment and then let her arm and hand rest on her thigh.

Chapter 6

Rodney and Keller stood in front of the gate, along with Teyla, Katie Brown-Dex, and Ronon. They all were staring off in the direction of the gate, all lost in their thoughts and prayers for their own child. They had gone to find allies but, as usual were longer than expected and were over the scheduled dial in by an hour. They were probably fine but, the Pegasus Galaxy wasn't the safest place in the universe. Keller moved slightly and wrapped her arm around Rodney's. Katie leaned against Ronon who gave a slight grunt. Shaking themselves from their horror fantasies of their children being tortured, they all began to turn around. As Katie stood up straight, she felt light-headed. She grabbed Ronon's arm and raised a hand to her forehead. Ronon gave her a side-long glance and asked, "Are you okay?"

She began to mutter a reply when she fell to the floor. Ronon gave a yell, "Katie!" as he knelt beside her. Keller shoved her way to the front and felt for a pulse on her neck. A young medical staff member scurried over. Keller glanced to her and told her in a calm commanding voice, proving she was in her element, "Get me a gurney and an IV. Quick."

The person hurried off as Keller turned her attention back to Katie. Her breathe came in quick gasps and her eyes were rolling back into her head. Her head rolled from side to side and suddenly, her back arched and she went into a seizure. Keller held Katie's shoulders down and turned to Ronon, "We can't wait for the gurney, she needs medical attention now. Can you carry her?"

Ronon nodded slightly. Keller gave a nod and stood as Ronon picked Katie up carefully, as if she was glass. It was obvious how much he cared for her. She hung limply in his arms and her graying hair fell in a mess. Keller went to the door as Ronon followed.

Once in the medical bay, Ronon placed Katie on a bed. She flailed so he held her down as best as possible. Keller put on gloves as fast as possible and got her under an Ancient scanner. Readings came up on an Ancient screen. Keller read them and started yelling out different medications for another staff member to get her. A slight Asian woman ran over carrying a handful of pills. She opened her gloved palm to hold them out for Keller. Keller tipped Katie's head back and began feeding her them one at a time. She inserted the IV in Katie's arm as well and hung a bag of fluids next to her. Ronon watched the doctors rush past and wondered what they could do to help his wife. Katie stopped convulsing and settled down and her breathing became slower and steady after a few minutes. No longer needed to hold her down, Ronon backed away and simply stood guard over her.

After Keller did all she could, the sun was setting outside Atlantis and she was tired. Keller went up to Ronon and said, "I have done all I can, we have to let her rest and hope for the best. My staff will watch her if you want to catch some sleep."

Ronon immediately answered, "No," his response coming out roughly.

Keller tightened her lips and started nodding, "Ok. You can stay here. Do you want a chair? I can have someone bring you up food, if you want."

Ronon didn't respond, which Keller took to mean he wasn't interested. She gave him a last look before leaving. He never made a move. He simply looked at Katie and waited. Keller understood her wanted to be with her when she woke up and the entire time until then.

Keller entered her quarter's she shared with Rodney. The lights came on and Keller walked to the bathroom and turned on the water. After a day like that, she needed a nice hot bath. Stripping off her Atlantis base uniform, she stepped in the Ancient bathtub. The warm water began relaxing her tensed muscles on contact. At about the time she had gotten all the way in, the door to the room hissed open. She was guessing it was Rodney.

"Rodney, I'm in the tub! How did your research go?"

In the background, Keller could here shoes hitting the floor and a body hitting the bed. No doubt, he had fallen on top of the bed still in his clothes. "Rodney, you can't sleep in your clothes. I will kick you out of the bed."

The response she got was a groan and more rustling of covers and the bed. Keller figured he needed to be ordered off the bed and to get ready for bed. She got out of the tub and wrapped a nice fuzzy towel, new from Earth and shipped with the supplies on the last restock from _Hammond_. Walking into the bedroom, she spotted Rodney on the bed, almost asleep on his stomach. Drool droplets dripped down his mouth to the bedspread. Keller frowned and smiled at the same time, trying to suppress a laugh at the sight of her husband. He hadn't really changed over the last 27 years of their marriage. Keller went to him and nudged him, he grunted and opened his eyes slowly. She asked, "Long day, huh?"

"What? Oh, yes," Rodney stated as he sat up and looked at her, "I have been trying to improve our drones and shield based on the information I got, which wasn't much. I did manage to enhance the shield at least a little."

Keller rubbed his back and gave him a sympathetic look, "Ok, well, at least you could do something for the shields. I mean, knowing you, you will probably make it work."

He gave another grunt in response which said_, I think not. They will probably just burn themselves out. _It was the pessimistic side of Rodney. Keller stood again and paced back into the bathroom, the cool tiles sending chills up her legs. She slipped on a nightgown as McKay trudged in. He peeled off his jacket while Keller went and curled up in bed.

Amelia Banks walked into the infirmary. Her skin heated up and she felt slightly self-conscious. Ronon stood over Katie Brown with a protective look. He still didn't notice Banks and she debated whether or not to leave. It had been over 22 years since they had been together but, she still, deep down had feelings for him, even if she loved her own husband, Zelenka.

Banks was about to turn and leave when Ronon noticed her. It was obvious he had been in deep thought not to notice, after his years as a Runner. Ronon barely cared she was there, or at least that's what he acted like. He turned back to Katie without a word. Banks felt more awkward than before. She timidly stepped forward, "How is she?"

Ronon shrugged, "Keller says she's never seen anything like this before. She thinks it's a plague."

Amelia frowned morbidly. She knew what he meant. It was a manufactured plague. The Ori used to do that but, since Merlin's weapon destroyed them, who possibly could? Keller needed to figure it out and soon. Atlantis needed Ronon to be ready to fight and if Katie was hurt, he would be distracted. Amelia took a step closer to the medical bed and clasped her hands behind her back. It still felt awkward speaking with him about his wife, after they had dated almost twenty-five years ago. She tried to comfort him though, "Well, sir, I have confidence in Dr. Keller. If anyone can help Katie, it's her."

Chapter 7

Dacey watched as Shaun hooked up the Arhgohnn tablet to the screens on the walls. The Atlantians and Travelers were still on the bridge except, they were now in a wormhole towards Atlantis. It turned out, they had a wormhole drive on the ship as well. Dacey had been glad to hear it. She was even happier to give Rina the coordinates of Atlantis. They were on a nice planet with a Stargate but, they wanted to rally with Atlantis and some Earth ships before going after the Wraith. Rina had her arms crossed on her chest and was intent on the screen; it now displayed space with a few readings on a side bar. Shaun tapped wildly at his tablet while Wen and Zola chilled with the Travelers in the back. Dacey was sure the two Atlantians were watching but, they acted as if they weren't.

Tsunnaah was at Dacey's side and asked, "How does our ship compare with that of the Ori? Will it survive?"

Dacey folded her arms over her own stomach and replied, "I honestly don't know. I was never any good at science. I can't tell you what your armor and hull are like under pressure. My teacher was a cute ginger in his twenties, so I got a B- in that class."

Tsunnaah knit her eyebrows together. "What is a B-? Is it a reward for good behavior or a shameful name?"

Dacey wanted to laugh. However, since Tsunnaah was truly confused, she would probably take it as an insult. She mumbled her apologies as she went to Shaun. "What do we have? I know this is the worst question at the moment but, are we almost there yet?"

Shaun gave her an irritated glance. He held her eye contact for a few seconds then back to the tablet and the long equation scrolling across the screen. "By there you mean Earth, yes. By almost you mean five minutes, yes. That answer your question doesn't it?"

Dacey nodded and spun on her heel. She really hated being cooped up unless she was in the pilot's chair. People who thought otherwise were nuts. The ship they were on, the Werda, slowed until Earth filled the entire screen. The blue streaks typical of a wormhole drive disappeared. Dacey turned to Rina, who stood in the very center of the bridge, "Can you pen a channel to Atlantis? I want to say hello, maybe ask how their day is going."

Rina paced to a console on the wall and yanked out a metal oval that blended in with the wall. A single circle was etched on the surface. Rina put it into Dacey's waiting hand. The smooth surface lit up a neon green when Rina brushed the circle. "Major, the channel is open. Atlantis can hear you."

The major shrugged and started as she placed her free hand on her hip, "Atlantis, this is Sheppard. We brought some party guests who would like to get a parking spot. Is the _Hammond _still on the Eastern pier?"

For a few moments, nothing came through. Then it activated again and screams could be heard. Abbie's voice came over in a rushed and urgent, "Major! I don't know how much time I have left. Don't land! Atlantis is infected with a Prior's plague. Keller says the Wraith modified it and released it so there isn't a cure. I'm sending you a DataStream with the specs of the virus. Get Doc Landry at the SGC to find a cure."

Dacey was shocked. Her mouth fell slightly open and her arm fell a tad. Making a decision, she held up the device again, "Understood."

Dacey handed the device back to Rina, who slipped it back into a crevice on the console. Dacey went over to the alien and whispered, "Do you have any means to get down to Earth? We need to get down there."

Rina raised her chin and looked down her nose at her. "We have transporters, yes. Tsunnaah will take you. I require you take an Arhgohnnian with you however."

Dacey thought about it. It made sense to take a representative. She nodded. Tsunnaah approached and indicated for them to leave the bridge then she went.

Once they were in the transporter room, a female walked in behind them. She was broader than the others had been and a scowl was on her lips. She had neon orange eyes that were set hard and stern. Tsunnaah waved a hand towards her, "This is Krahn. She is one of our top soldiers and will be joining you."

Krahn didn't wave or even move for that matter. She was stone still. Dacey turned towards the transporters on the other side of the cramped room. The area was smooth except for emerald green bumps about the size or manholes on the wall. Matching circles were on the ground. Confused, Dacey waited to see what Krahn would do. The stoic soldier walked onto a disc and placed her open palm onto the bump with her other arm at her side. Dacey and all the others did the same after hesitating. Tsunaah pushed a few buttons on a panel and the world went white.

A few seconds later, the entire group materialized in the SGC. Dacey stumbled and wheezed, "Ha," she raised her hand pointed in no particular direction as she bent over, "I feel like I have a hangover from drinking too much Vodka."

Lin simply placed her hands on her hips and said, "You never could hold your drinks."

Mitchell walked up. On his face he wore an amused expression as he said, "Major, I hope you have some good news because I seem to a tad short of some myself."

Dacey stood to her full height and approached him. She held out her hand to him. As he grasped her forearm in a warrior-like fashion she pulled him into a hug, "Going all official on me? I've known you since I was what, like five? It's been a while. I do have good news," Dacey let go and motioned towards Krahn, "I bring some allies. I guess you could say they are like Genii on the good-guy team."

Krahn at the allusion to her people stepped forward and tipped her head forward. "I am Krahn, of Arhgohnn. I brought the ship, Werda, along with me. Koilu and Retdeo will arrive shortly."

Mitchell sucked in a breath. He lifted his one hand as his other one went to his hip, "So, we are talking about three ships. How big and what numbers are we talking? Do you have individual fighter ships too? Or is it an all or nothing deal?"

Lin stepped forward, "It is about the size of my flag ship that can hold a few hundred to a thousand and they have a few individual planes that resemble your Puddle Jumpers. If we are to prepare before the Wraith return, we need to hurry."

At about that time, Vala rushed in, paused and proceeded to hug Zola tightly before a greying Daniel Jackson strolled in to do the same. Teal'c came in as well. He hovered in the back and gave a little bow, clasping his hands behind his back.

Mitchell dropped his hands into his pockets, "Right, so, all we have to do is destroy one of the most powerful enemies the Stargate program has ever known and their friends," Zola opened her mouth to say something but Mitchell cut her off, "I assume they have made friends because we have. In that case, we might be screwed, because any friends they make will be just as powerful as them."

Krahn regarded him with her neon orange eyes, "Between the Arhgohnn fleet, Atlantis, and your other ships, we can destroy the enemy."

Dacey raised her eyebrows, "You see, we might not be entirely screwed. We have the _Hammond, Asgard_, and the _Grodin. _We even have Atlantis to back Earth up along with _Destiny_. Cam, your orders."

Mitchell sighed, "Ok, Dacey tell my daughter to do what they can to improve Atlantis, use what materials you need from the SGC. Abbie said Keller quarantined the infected areas. Or at least the infected areas they know of. Krahn, prepare your fleet and standby, I'm going to need you to coordinate with Atlantis and follow their orders. I trust the commander, she is my daughter."

All of the people nodded. Dacey turned to her team and the Travelers, along with Vala, Daniel, and Teal'c, "Follow me to the gate-room. We can gate up to Atlantis. In the meantime, Krahn get transported back up to the _Werda._"

Dacey pushed her way through and into the hall. Following the lines on the walls, she finally came to the gate-room. The Stargate stood in the very center with a single ramp leading up to it. It seemed to be waiting to be activated. She turned her head up to the glass on the opposite wall from the Stargate, "Walter, dial Atlantis."

The side of the Stargate spun it its circular track until it reached the wanted symbol and lit. A blue mass bubbled outward in a burst then retracted into the Stargate, creating a surface that looked like water. The SGC personnel, Atlantis members, and Travelers surged forward, up the ramp and through the Stargate. Dacey hesitated and followed behind Wen.

Abbie stood at the top of the large staircase in the Ancient gate-room. Dacey caught a small glimpse of her as she exited the wormhole and the gate shut down. Abbie lifted her hands and clasped her hands behind her back, "Major, we need to talk," Abbie walked towards the Ancient conference room.

Dacey followed her and the doors slid shut to the room after she entered. Apparently it was just the two of them. Abbie took the seat at the head of the table and Dacey took one to her left. She crossed her arms over her chest as she said, "Well, I'm here and I have at least some good news but, your dad probably already told you that. Do you know if your mom is going to come in from Area 51?"

Abbie nodded and laid her hands out flat on the table. "Yes, he contacted me after you left the SGC and were gating up. I hate to break it to you, but it isn't going to be enough," she waved her arm, "Three ships that we know nothing about are our allies. The odds are not exactly in our favor, even with the _Hammond_ and the _Asgard_. We need something else. _Destiny _isn't going to be much help, no matter how well Rush has patched it up, he isn't Eli."

Dacey leaned forward and pointed one hand to the doors, "We have good soldiers out there and an Ancient city plus at least five other ships and you are telling me we can't defeat one goddam Hive."

"All I'm saying is, we won't win. Zelenka picked up something while you were gone. He believes the Wraith have been getting allies too. However, their allies aren't from around here… Zelenka picked up an energy signature. It matches the one Atlantis picked up from the _Daedalus_ when it jumped in orbit from an alternate reality."

Dacey's mouth opened slightly. They hadn't encountered anything related to alternate realities since she had come here, which was about twenty years ago. "How is that possible? What do you mean he "picked up" a signature like that?"

Abbie frowned, "He was monitoring the long range sensors to see if he could find the Wraith. That was when he detected the signature. He thinks they were calling in the reinforcements."

"You know, I like it when your dad is wrong. I guess this time I have to live with it. Ok, so they called up their buddies, so now what? What do we do? We need something to use against them, like Superman or something. We need a Hail-Mary."

Abbie ran her fingers over her hair and tightened her ponytail, "This would be a great time for one. And honestly, I don't think there is anything we can do but go down fighting."

Dacey nodded and stood. The doors automatically opened as she approached, a bonus from having the Ancient gene. Her dad had had it too. She sped towards the hanger bay. The central one had the Puddle Jumpers. As she went, Dacey stopped at an armory. Picking up a radio, she began radioing all the pilots with the Ancient gene and pilots who could go to the other hanger bay and fly the F-302s. After that, she grabbed a vest, gun, and an extra clip of bullets. Turning, Dacey headed towards the Puddle Jumper bay.

On the way, she thought of something and stopped into a bathroom. While standing there, she pulled out a small knife, dull and useless really. Dacey bit her lip and began cutting her hair. She cut it until it was slightly longer than a normal guy's.

She thought: _I no longer need to be a pilot of a plane for my country. I'm needed to be part of the saving grace for Earth. I need to not only not back down and stand tall, I need to be a soldier. It's time to be one._

Placing the cut hair carelessly into the sink, along with the blade, inscribed J. Sheppard, she straightened up and walked proudly to the Puddle Jumper bay, like a true soldier.

When she got there, her team was waiting outside a Puddle Jumper in the middle of the bay, along with Teal'c, Vala, and Daniel. They were all geared up. Vala handed her an earpiece. Taking it, Dacey pushed it in her ear while pushing it. "Dacey to Abbie. I need you to contact the Arhgohnnians. They need to get their fighters ready."

After a few moments of static, Abbie said, "Agreed. I'll have one beam to the Jumper bay to be on your team."

Dacey turned to look at the circle of people she was supposed to take with her. She frowned at the group. They couldn't all fit inside a Jumper without it feeling like a clown car. After a few bites on her lip, she said, "Shaun, I know you hate piloting, especially an alien thing, not a regular plane but, I need you to take Teal'c, Vala, and Daniel in a second Jumper," Shaun began to object when Dacey held a hand up to stop him, "Before you say no, I am telling you, get over it."

He shut his mouth while continually mumbling how he couldn't believe he had to fly. However, Shaun spun on his heel towards an adjacent Jumper. Satisfied he would do what she told him to, Dacey entered the open Puddle Jumper and made her way to the pilot's seat.

Chapter 8

Keller sat in the quarters she shared with Rodney, who was gone. On her lap sat a tablet showing the molecular structure of the plague Katie Brown-Dex had. Katie despite all the antibiotics and medicines was getting worse by the minute. Keller had her in restraints so if she had a seizure she wouldn't hurt herself. Otherwise, Keller couldn't really do much so, she had left another medic in charge and left. For the past two hours, she had hid in her quarters and tried to figure out how to help Katie. Hitherto, she was pulling a blank. It was manufactured, she knew that but, by who was another question.

Keller ran another simulation. She had been doing them on how to eradicate the plague. Every single one came back negative. She thought about a new combination of drugs when Rodney came. He had his own tablet, which he was tapping on, no doubt running his own simulations. Keller looked up and smiled, "Rodney. Have a look at this. I've been working on a way to destroy whatever Katie has and I think you can help because you spend enough time there."

"Is that supposed to be an insult because I'm a Hypochondriac or is it an allusion to me being married to a doctor?"

Keller laughed at his seriousness. "Rodney, just give me a second opinion."

"What you said was rude and inconsiderate."

Keller rolled her eyes and got off the bed. When she stood a few feet away, she handed him the tablet, "I meant on the plague, not in general."

"Oh. Well you know," Rodney pointed down to the pad and looked quickly down at it. After he tapped the screen a few times, he said, "This plague, you said Katie had it?"

Keller nodded, "That's right."

Rodney widened his eyes. He hurriedly spoke, "Then she will either turn into a species I have never seen before or die. You have to find a way to cure her. I don't know if she can even survive the former if it does happen!"

Keller stuttered and said, "Are you sure? Maybe you read it wrong… Or maybe you are just over reacting… Rodney, if you're right Atlantis could be in trouble."

"Jennifer, I wouldn't read it wrong and I am serious. This could be very bad and I think it might be contagious. The structure is similar to every contagious disease I can think of."

Keller sucked in a breath, "We have to do something. Atlantis is about to go into battle and we need every healthy, not running around, changing into aliens. We have to do something!"

Rodney closed his eyes and stuck up a hand irritated, "Yeah, I know. Let me think. And if it is contagious, you probably just spread it through half the city. Radio Zelenka and tell him everything. If we change, he might be the only one left smart enough to cure us. Shaun is bright but he is off being a commando."

Keller nodded as Rodney went back to the tablet. She, not wanting to interrupt him, went close to the window overlooking the city on the opposite wall. She tapped her ear radio and did as she had been told.

Ronon stood looking at Katie Brown. She looked a shade grey to him but, what did he know? He wasn't a doctor. If she was getting worse, someone would tell him. For the time being, he was content she was alive. A medical person ran past and Ronon could hear him talking to the medic in charge about something. Ronon was pretty sure he heard the word "contagious" in the sentence. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious.

Abruptly, a sudden wave of ice crept down his spine, chilling him to the bone. Something wasn't right, he could _feel_ it. Without thinking about it, Ronon gave a savage growl. Stepping away from Katie, he flipped over a medical cart filled with bottles and syringes. Pills spewed in every direction as caps came off. Ronon bared his teeth as he trudged towards the chief medic in the infirmary. The man raised his arms in self-defense and gave a small cry before Ronon brought down his arms on him. The medic instantly landed on his back. A dazed look spread over his face. Confused, he didn't react as Ronon brought back his arm to punch the small man.

A moment before Ronon could hit him, Ronon felt a prick on his shoulder blade as an infirmary staff member stabbed him with a sedative. Ronon furrowed his eyebrows and crumbled to the floor with a grunt. The staff member looked at the syringe in awe, "I guess Dr. Keller was right. It does actually take two times the normal dose to knock him out," as he said this he remembered the chief medic. Leaning beside the man he said, "Are you okay sir?"

"Get Dr. Keller."

The member nodded, "Right away sir."

Dr. Keller ran through the halls of Atlantis. She had just been contacted by a medic telling her about Ronon. Remembering something, she stopped. Her shoes skidded across the floor as her breathing slowed. Sighing, Keller turned and began running back to her room.

Stepping through the door, she spotted her tablet on the bed instantly. Snatching it in one arm, she jogged out into the hall again. When she stepped into the hall, she took up her run again to the infirmary.

When she got there, Ronon was on a medical bed next to Katie. He was strapped done with more restraints than was used for standard procedure. Then again, he could rip those to shreds. She stopped jogging and approached the medic who had radioed her, "What happened?"

"Well, Ronon growled and began destroying everything in his path except Katie. You told me earlier the plague thing could be contagious. I think it might have spread to Ronon. He had a seizure about five minutes ago, not unlike Katie's."

Keller nodded. She brought up her tablet and spun it so he could see. "Rodney and I think about a quarter of Atlantis is infected. The plague can kill people. We need to find a cure. Get everyone possible to work on this. If Atlantis falls, Earth will too."

The medic scurried away. Keller couldn't believe the plague was contagious. That meant she was next. Or at least would soon be contaminated. What would happen then? Frustrated, Keller jammed at her earpiece, "Zelenka, please respond."

A young female voice came over the radio. It had an odd accent that sounded like Czech to Keller. Without the girl saying her name, she knew it was Zelenka's daughter, Anna. She said, "Doc? Dad is out at the moment. Can I take a message? He went to get coffee and said he needed it before he could do anything else."

"Anna, I'm going to need you to get him into your quarters right away. I can't get near him. Where is your mother too? Has she been around anybody lately?"

Static came over the radio and Keller was frustrated instantly. After a long pause, Keller could hear shouting in the background. Zelenka said, "Dej mi to! Doctor Keller? I am in my quarters and I haven't seen Amelia since this morning. She said she was going to check up on Ronon and Katie. Why?"

Keller's eyes widened, "Radek, stay in your room! Don't leave or see anyone. Katie has a deadly plague and Rodney and I are infected. If we're affected, you could be the only one left to find a cure. You can access my data on the plague from your tablet."

Zelenka huffed, "All right, all right. Anna and I will do that. Can it be contained?"

Keller said, "No. We don't know who has been exposed. Plus the city can't detect it."

"Opravdu!"

"Radek, I need you and Anna to cure this. Earth could be at stake without the city."

With that Keller frowned and prepared to receive more of the infected.

Chapter 9

Ahn, the only Arhgohnnian male on the Koilu, stood on the bridge having a staring contest with the captain. He said, "First, I know guys are supposed to be on Arhgohnn and breeding with one girl or another but, I would rather fight. My father gave me two brothers who are willingly doing their duty. I think that gives me the right to do what I want. So, please let me transport to Atlantis and help them or at least go with a fighter party on an attack."

The boy, barely a man in the alien terms, had been practically begging for the chance to fight, which was unusual for a guy. Otherwise, he was perfectly average. He had black as night hair, which was short, and black dots. His skin was a dark brown. His eyes were a deep and vibrant blue. First on the Koilu narrowed her eyes at him and straightened up to her full height. Doing that made him seem small. The fact he had a slight frame didn't help. He frowned and straightened to his full height, topping six foot. First noticed and smiled, "You really are a warrior, like a woman. Alright, we will get to Atlantis soon and I want you to transport there. Understand you are to follow their orders."

Ahn smiled and nodded, "Yes, First. I promise to leave some of the fight for you."

With that, he turned and headed out the door to the transport room.

A moment after he transported, he registered a bay for crafts of some kind. They were tube like and grey. A woman walked over to him. Behind her, he spotted two other girls. One had brown hair in dreads, pulled back by yet another dreadlock. She wore a leather tunic with matching boots and pants. She was perfect he thought. She looked like a fighter. The other had dark hair as well but, she wasn't tan and didn't look like a warrior.

The woman who had approached him sported irritated looking grey eyes and had her hands on her hips. Her hair was short, which made her look less than feminine. She said, "Well, are you here to be on my team or not?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm Ahn by the way. You are?"

"Dacey, call me Major. Ahn, you're gonna be with me in my Jumper."

He nodded as she led him into a thing she had called a Jumper. Without turning, she spoke, "Take a seat."

Dacey sat in the pilot's chair and the pretty fighter took the other seat in the front. Ahn couldn't help noticing how tan she was. It made her look more like his people. Blinking rapidly he looked away so he would focus.

The other girl sat on a seat opposite him. He slowly took sat down, all the while eyeing the fighter. When he looked towards the girl opposite him she said, after inspecting him up and down, "So, Ahn… You're an Arhgohnnian. You know, you happen to be the first male of your species I've met. Why is that?"

Ahn's mouth tighten and he kneaded his hands in front of him, "Actually, I doubt you'll see many males of my kind period. For every twenty women, one guy might be born. Because of that, most just stay home and breed like animals. Most couldn't even fight if they had to and yet, ironically, they choose mates based on their fighting skills. Petty, I know. I'm a special case. I have two brothers who are more than happy to do what First wants so, she gave me a break and let me do what I wanted: to fight."

The girl tilted her head and watched him for a second. She threw her hands up in the air and stated, "Stop looking so pathetic. You got what you wanted."

At this, he smiled and gave a slight nod. The two rode the remainder of the time in silence, as did Dacey and Wen. After a few minutes, Dacey radioed the other ships, "Dacey to all the Jumpers, get into attack formation Theta and wait for someone to come knocking on our front door."

On the screen, in the front of the ship, six large dots appeared and made their way towards the formation of Jumpers. Ahn asked, "What do those dots signify?"

"Dacey turned her head to look at him before saying, "They show the major ships. I assume three represent your people's ships and three are the _Grodin, Asgard, _and_ Hammond_. And the little dots coming out now are F-302s and whatever your fighters are called."

Ahn gave a sound of understanding before replying, "They are called Klin. They are individual fighter crafts though. They cannot hold many like yours."

Dacey opened her mouth to say something back when a Wraith/Ori Hive arrived, followed by their allies from the alternate reality. Their allies had four large ships that were each bigger than Earth's biggest ship, the_ Asgard_. They were silver and boxy with a black mark on the side representing their species. For a few seconds, no one moved, surprised by how infallible their opponents looked. Taking the opportunity, The Hive fired upon the lead Arhgohnnian ship, the Werda, and the lead Earth ship, the _Asgard_. On impact, Dacey blinked and fired a few drones. She radioed Atlantis, "Abbie, patch me through to Rodney."

Finally, Abbie said it was done. Dacey spoke, "Rodney, I need you to figure out a way to modify the drones on Atlantis so they will penetrate the Hive's hull. Even with the Asgard tech on our ships and the Arhgohnnians firing something similar, we're losing!"

Rodney snapped his fingers she could hear and said, "On it. Sensors say the Hive and their friends are sending out fighters. Hold them off as long as possible please."

Dacey then radioed the rest of the fighters on her side and told them to attack. Dacey, never looking back, said to the others, "Hold on, if I'm going to land us into the Hive for a stealth assault with Shaun's team, it is not going to be a smooth ride."

As she said the last word, the Puddle Jumper spiraled and barely missed a Wraith Dart. Pointy Darts flew in every direction, attacking space-crafts everywhere. Dacey fired a drone at a passing Dart, which exploded in a ball of fire. A Dart fired at the Jumper as Dacey released two more drones. One hit the weapon hurtling at them and the other hit the Dart. The Jumper weaved through a couple of Darts trying to fight together. Another Jumper came up from behind Dacey's and fired at one and followed the Jumper. It must be Shaun. A few F-302s and Klins flew in front of the Jumper, pursuing a squad of Darts. Dacey hissed as one of the Wraith ally planes flew in front of them, firing a green ball, similar to a drone. Dacey went straight up and hit the ball with a drone. Dodging a few more alien planes, the Hive came into view.

At that moment, the Hive and their allies began firing everything at the _Asgard_ and the Werda. Dacey mumbled gruffly, "What the hell are they doing? And who are their allies anyway?"

A squad of Darts and their allies dropped down behind Dacey. She groaned and twisted the Jumper into a roll in the hopes they couldn't follow. No such luck. Shaun fired a few drones but missed. Dacey swooped in to fire when a Dart appeared out of seemingly nowhere and fired at the Jumper. Dacey just had time to yelp before the shot hit.

A beam of light appeared on the bridge of the _Grodin_. Dacey, Shaun, and both their teams blinked to find themselves staring at General Stackhouse. His brown eyes were as kind as his smile. "So, I guess that's called good timing?"

Dacey nodded. "What's the situation? I just got here."

"Sensors and transporters went down just after you got here. We know some of those new aliens got on board. Now, we can't track them. Shaun, you should get down to engineering and see if you can fix the sensors. The rest of you should go alien hunting. All my Marines and Airmen are in F-302s fighting."

Dacey turned to the group. "All right, Shaun, you're with Teal'c. Vala and Daniel, go towards the main engine. Wen and Ahn go towards the Asgard Beam Turret. Zola, you and I will go towards the F-302 bay, and we will check up on the shield generator. We can't have those freaks messing with it."

Wen and Ahn were partially crouched as they crept through the corridors. Ahn was in the lead. As they rounded a corner, a green blast came right at them. The corridor was a T so Ahn dove to the other side and Wen slid back to the corridor they had come from. Wen stood and swung her blue gun, just like Ronon's, around the corner, firing all the while. Ahn did the same from his position, except he was using a Zat Teal'c had handed him before they had split up. Green blasts continually hit the wall behind Wen. One came close to Ahn, forcing him to hide behind his corner. At the distraction, Wen moved into the hall with the aliens and fired until all of them were dead on the floor. Ahn came out, a shocked look upon his face.

Ahn said, "You are a warrior."

Wen grunted and kicked the armor of one of the dead aliens saying, "Who are they? Or do you even know?"

"No. They are new to us as well."

A sound of metal hitting metal came from around the corner behind Ahn. Both turned and raised their weapons. A man ran around the corner. He skidded to a stop and raised his hands in surrender upon seeing the pair. Wen said, "Duck."

The man did as he was told. Both Wen and Ahn began firing at the aliens as they came around the corner after the man. The man slowly stood and looked over his shoulder. He said, "Holy crap. They are hard to kill. Somehow they can track you through an entire ship, no problem."

Wen lowered her gun and nodded to Ahn to do the same. Ahn asked, "Who are you and do you know what these creatures are?"

The man gave a half smile and said, "Yeah. We call them the Zamora. They just so happen to be named by me; they're actually mute and can't really say who they are exactly. They just kind of grunt. Oh and I'm Sheppard, John-"

Wen gruffly said through a clenched jaw as she raised her gun again sharply, "Impossible! He died almost fifteen years ago. The Wraith fed on him when they attacked his and his wife's Traveler colony."

The man shook his head, "I'm from the alternate reality. I hid on a transport ship of theirs along with my team. That's where the Zamora are from too. They attacked us right after we defeated the Ori and Wraith."

Wen eyed him suspiciously and finally lowered her firearm. "Fine, where is the rest of your team then?"

John stated simply, "I don't know. We were split up when we got here."

Dacey and Zola had checked on the shield. There hadn't been an alien thug in sight. It had been oddly quiet. Dacey made her way around yet another corner. She could see another human in the distance walking in the same direction. Dacey yelled, "State your name and rank."

The person glanced over her shoulder then took off running. Dacey yelled "hey" at the human as she sprinted after it. Dacey turned to follow the person down a perpendicular hall to hers. It was a dead end and the girl spun to face Dacey. Zola finally caught up. She started saying something but it was lost after she recognized the girl. It was a copy of her. Zola pushed forward and quietly said, "Who are you?"

The other Zola stuttered, "I'm Zola Jackson from Earth. I come from an alternate reality. I was on a Zamora transport ship with my team when we were crashed onto this ship. I had to run before the Zamora figured out I had found a way to get onto their ship. Only, it wasn't theirs, it was yours."

The real Zola stepped forward. She crossed her arms over her chest. And she said, "Okay, then tell me how we are going to tell the difference between us? We are wearing the same outfit and look exactly the same. I guess fashion is the same in your reality."

The other Zola shrugged, "For now, you can call me Mil. It's our middle name. Otherwise, I don't know. I know you don't trust me and I understand. So, I have a way for you to know what I said is true."

Dacey and Zola looked at each other. Silently they were both debating. Dacey was silently losing too. Dacey said, "How?"

Mil said, "Before we defeated the Goa'uld, I managed to steal a Brain interlink device. When I gave it to Rodney, he figured out a way to link with another person and share memories. Every member of my team carries one. We use it as a black box in case we die and someone needs to know what happened…"

Dacey and Zola both let their mouths drop open slightly as Mil held out her hand with a device in it. It was a little black disk with a spike out of the center. Zola grabbed it around the edges of the disk part and looked up at Mil expectantly.

Mil said, "Put the spike into your temple. As you get all of my memories, yours will be downloaded too."

Zola hesitated then placed it into her temple. Her eyes dilated and she stumbled into the wall. Leaning against it, she told Dacey, "Oh my god. The Zamora are ruthless. Dacey, we have to kill all the ones on board and destroy their lead ship. The ship is the one with the device to go between realities. Take it out and they will be stranded."

Dacey nodded. "Ok, you keep that on so I know who is who. Let's move."

Dacey turned and started getting back on track. Mil helped Zola stand. She said, "Now you know how much I've lost to them. You trust now right?"

"More than anyone else because you're me. I at least know I can trust myself."

Mil smiled slightly as both started off towards Dacey.

Wen, Ahn, and Sheppard crept through a dark corridor. The lights in this section had gone out when the ship was hit by a blast. Sheppard tripped on something and barely caught himself before he did a face plant. Looking back he could vaguely make out a body. He stood and turned his light, on his P-90, upon it. The body of Teyla was sprawled out on the floor. A metal disk shone on her temple. He grabbed it and detached it from her body. John inspected it. After seeing it was in decent condition, he stabbed it into his own temple. John whispered, "Crap."

John turned and sprinted after Ahn and Wen who had continued without him. He yelled as he went, "Stop! A squad of Zamora and Wraith are patrolling this area. They must think my entire team is around here. They want to make sure we can't help you and your people fix this ship before they can take it over."

Wen and Ahn raised their guns and slid up against the wall while backing up towards where John was. Footsteps echoed down the hall in front of them. Wen whispered, "Run."

The three turned and sprinted away. Green blasts flew by them as they went. John spotted an open door on his side of the hall. He grabbed the other two and dove into the room. Letting go of them, John jammed the button to shut the door. As the door closed John looked around the room. Bodies of crewmembers were spread across the floor. They seemed to be in a mess hall. John moved a table in front of the door. He motioned for them to get out of the doorway. Ahn and Wen slid against the wall right beside the door. John did the same on his side of the door.

The door slid open and a Zamora pushed against the table. John swiveled and unloaded his weapon on the alien. Wen swiveled and did the same. Ahn stepped around and shot the Zat at the alien. The Zamora fell and another took his place. A Wraith drone stepped forward and fired a large stunner, clipping Ahn. The boy fell and was barely conscious. Wen and John never wavered and kept firing. The drone fell. A Zamora came forward and pushed the table backwards. The table skidded back until it hit the opposite wall, missing hitting Ahn by a few inches. Zamora crowded the doorway and came in. Some fell as others stepped over them and proceeded to fight. A Wraith leader stepped forward and raised his hand to feed upon John as Sheppard put a new clip of bullets into his P-90. Wen drew a handgun from her belt with her free hand and shot the Wraith while continually firing her gun, like Ronon's, with her other hand.

After what seemed like forever, no more enemies came. Bodies were piled in the doorway and inside the room. Wen went over to where Ahn was laying. She kicked his shoulder while still observing the door. He groaned and his head moved slightly. Wen knelt, put the hand gun in her belt, and grabbed him from under the armpit, hauling him to his feet. In Wen's other hand she flipped her gun so she wasn't holding the handle. The blue bulb flickered as she hit Ahn in the jaw with the handle. His eyes flew open and he jumped back from her and put up his fists. When he realized it was her he lowered them.

Ahn said, "Why would you hit me with that? It hurt!"

All she said was, "You're awake aren't you?"

Wen stepped into the hall and checked both ways and started off to the left. Ahn bent, got his Zat, and stood up frowning. John gave a slight laugh and said, "I'm guessing that's Ronon's daughter."

The two men stepped into the hall and followed Wen. Every now and then, a Wraith or Zamora would show up and one of the three would shoot them. When they all arrived back at the bridge, John began saying as they entered the door, "It's all clear-"

The bridge was smoky from a fire on one of the consoles. The crew was mostly gone. One scientist was shriveled up and looked mummified in the corner. He had been fed upon by a Wraith. Two airmen were sprawled on the floor, obviously dead with a dead Zamora laying near. At that moment, the _Grodin_ shook from a direct hit.

Wen hit her earpiece to contact Dacey, "We're being overrun. They're slaughtering our people and the bridge crew is gone."

Static was the only answer she got. Wen growled as she ducked through the bridge door again and into the hall.

Dacey and both Zolas fired at Zamora following them from behind as they ran the opposite way. Zamora had found them and were swarming onto them like bugs. It was obvious more had gotten on board because the group following them was bigger than any others they had run into. Dacey hit the hall as she skidded to round a corner too fast. A green blast flew over her head as she went. As they came around another turn, they ran into Ahn, Wen, and John Sheppard, literally. Dacey landed on top of John. She said, "Dad?"

Then thinking better of it, she quickly got up after looking behind her and said, "Run!"

John opened his mouth to speak. When Zamora came around the corner he closed it and did what she had told him to do.

As the group ran past a door, it opened. The Zamora ignored it until Teal'c stepped out. He grabbed one soldier and broke his neck with a twist of his arms. Shaun fired a hand gun like there was no tomorrow at another Zamora soldier. Dacey turned and started firing her P-90 as everyone else did. They all began creeping towards the open door.

Once all the good guys were inside, Teal'c closed the door. The group held their weapons at ready towards the door as Dacey hugged Shaun and said, "You have great timing. What's the news?"

"I fixed the sensors for a few seconds before they blew out entirely, when we got a direct hit on the ship. And I hate to be a pessimist but it's bad. And when I say bad, I mean really bad. There are too many. We are way out classed on this one. We need to leave."

"We need to find Vala and Daniel first. Where will we go anyway?"

John cursed as he paced away and came back. He pointed at Dacey then the ground as he said gruffly, "He we don't have enough goddamned time. We need to get out of here. We can fly a Zamoran transport ship out of here and put the self-destruct on."

Dacey was about to argue. She got a stubborn look on her face when Shaun started snapping his fingers like Rodney always had. He got excited and hurriedly explained, "Yes, yes that could work. If we put the self-destruct on, we can detonate it between the Hive and a Zamora ship, we may be able to tip the scales if you know what I mean. I need to go to the bridge and send out an internal communication for all remaining people to meet up with us so we can fly them out too. Dacey, you should find Vala and Daniel and then come get me on the bridge. The rest of you should get the transport ship ready. We'll need to leave quickly."

Dacey rolled her eyes and took off down one corridor. Shaun sprinted in the opposite direction. The remaining people followed as Wen walked slowly towards the ship bay with her weapon ready. Ahn stared at her for a moment before following.

Dacey searched room after room. All of them started blurring together as she went. At the end of a corridor, a door stood centered in the end wall. A blast had melted the two panels of the door together at the top and another blast had melted a crater on the left panel midway up. Dacey inspected it for a second before she turned to continue her search when she heard Vala's voice, "Help! Daniel and I got stuck in here!"

Dacey whirled so fast, to face the door, she got slightly dizzy. She could hear fists pounding against the door from the inside. Dacey loudly said, "Vala, the door's melted together. I can't open it!"

Daniel spoke next in an annoyed tone, "We know. We just can't figure out how to actually get out!"

Dacey bit her lip, "Alright. Give me a few minutes."

Dacey started searching the rooms for a torch to cut the door with. They had one somewhere because they were prepared for this very problem. Sg-1 had had their fair share of problems similar to this. Finally, in a cabinet in what looked to be a supply closet, Dacey found a torch. She ran back to the door after putting a pair of goggles on the top of her head and clipped her P-90 to her vest. Reaching the door, Dacey put the goggles on and put on a pair of gloves that had been with the torch. She yelled, "Stand back!"

Rustling as her response and she assumed they had moved. With that thought, Dacey began cutting a hole in the bottom of the door. She was making it small to save time but the couple should be able to crawl through one at a time. Finally she had it done. Standing, she shut off the torch and kicked the metal block into the room. Vala poke her head out and crawled. Daniel followed and frowned as he stood. The couple dusted themselves off, even though they weren't really dirty.

Rodney ran through an Ancient hallway. It was bronze tinted and looked the same as every other one. He passed his wife as she looked up. Realizing it was him, she stopped and grabbed his arm. "Rodney! Ronon just showed symptoms of whatever Katie had. That means we're soon. Just thought you should know."

Rodney nodded gravely as he started walking again. When he finally reached the drone storage room, he smiled. Going up to one he examined it. Smiling lopsidedly, he withdrew the tablet from under his arm he had been carrying. Poking frantically at his screen, he gave a small laugh before attaching a wire to the drone that also attached to the tablet. He pushed the upload button that had popped up onto his tablet screen. Smiling when the screen told it had uploaded it successfully he contacted Abbie, "Abbie, I've finished modifying the drones. They now put out significantly more power and will break through almost anything. I think these can help us win, if I may be so bold."

"Nice work, Rodney. You've had experience with Ancient technology. I have a junior officer flying the city at the moment but, I think you could do a better job, now that you're unoccupied."

"I'll get to it."

Abbie didn't respond, telling him she expected him to go do it now. He sighed and headed to the chair room. The chair controlled the entire city and he could fire his drone and upload the new program and improvements he had just come up with from the one drone to the rest from there. He smirked smugly as he went.

The door to the room opened automatically for him as he came close. It did because he had the Ancient gene. The junior officer stood up from the chair and looked stiff. It was obvious he was exhausted and had taken a fair amount of time on the chair. The officer nodded and half walked/half stumbled down the stairs from the chair and out the door. Rodney wasted no time in taking his place and getting the city ready to fire the modified drones. A hologram of drones and the city appeared above his head but, he couldn't see them because his eyes were closed. The scientists around the room ignored them.

Rodney frowned as the hologram of the city was enlarged. The bubble around Atlantis, the shield, began flickering and went out. The shield had failed. The entire city rocked as it was hit with a blast from the Hive and Zamoran ships. Rodney frowned deeper as he tried to upload his drone program to the remaining drones. It was going too slow for his taste. Finally, it was done to enough he thought. Immediately, Rodney began firing all the modified ones at the enemy ships. He only had had time to upload the program to a fourth of their entire drone count. All the drones fired found their mark and Rodney knew. One of the Zamora ships exploded and one more was damaged.

Dacey ran into the bridge. She had already told Vala and Daniel to go to the awaiting transport ship. Shaun stood by a console to the right of the bridge commander's chair. He finished as she came in. He jogged to her and grabbed her hand to drag her with him. He mumbled, "I set it to explode in five minutes. We have to go."

Dacey didn't acknowledge him as she jogged, hand in hand with him. It was only when they reached the transport they let each other go. The transport was grey metal with the Zamoran emblem on the side. A hatch on the back was lowered and they ran up it. Inside everyone was crowded in. Seats lined both sides. In the front of the transport, John sat in the pilot's chair; no one was in the co-pilot's chair. Shaun took a seat next to Daniel in the back while Dacey took the co-pilot's.

The controls for the pilot were a series of metal bars. John shrugged and began pushing and pulling them. The ship lifted a little and flew out the bay doors. He angled it towards the Hammond that was now moving closer to the Zamora ships. John didn't appear to be putting much effort into flying, which made Dacey a little nervous. However, he did manage to land the transport easily enough.

Once on board the group went to the bridge. General Siler sat in his chair, looking a tad worried that the ship would explode any moment, which was possible. Samantha Carter-Mitchell was running from one station to another checking things and tapping her tablet in her hand. Shaun went over to her to see if he could help; after all he was a genius. Dacey nodded to the people who came in behind her. Frowning, John corralled them into the hall. Dacey approached Siler and smiled, "You wouldn't believe how relieved I am to see you General. I'm gonna have to ask you to move the _Hammond_ away from the main alien ship and the Hive."

Siler nodded and began ordering his crew to do it. Dacey glanced to Shaun one last time before walking out into the hall. Teal'c, Vala, and Daniel stood together talking a little apart from the others. Ahn and Wen were shoulder to shoulder, both with their arms crossed on their chests as they spoke quietly to Zola squared. Dacey couldn't tell which was Mil and which was her actual Zola. John stood by himself, looking sad.

Dacey cleared her throat and everyone stopped talking as they turned. She spoke with authority, giving no room to argue, "We need to do something. If we sit here and do nothing, we are useless. I'm going to go fly and kick some Zamora butt, who's with me?"

John was the first to say "I." Next was Wen, followed by the rest. Dacey smiled slightly as she walked past them. They all followed in a neat line. When they reached the F-302 bay, Dacey asked a passing mechanic tapping fervently at his tablet, "What kind of planes you have left?"

The mech gave her a questioning look, "Well, we have new prototype planes we were originally carrying to Atlantis for Dr. McKay to look at. Otherwise, all our birds are out."

Dacey gave a mischievous grin, "Would you care if we tested you prototypes?"

A while later, Dacey sat in a plane that looked similar to an F-302. However, when she sat down, glass screens surrounded her instead of buttons. All were blank. Her navigator and passenger, Teal'c, sat in a seat behind her, who had exactly the same screens. Dacey cocked her head and placed her hand on the screen directly in front of her. It glowed as the plane came to life. The rest of the screens came on and displayed various stats and info. One showed the engine temperature while another showed a map. Dacey spoke into her microphone attached to her helmet.

"Teal'c, I think this is like an Ancient ship and is controlled by my mind. Place your hand on the screen directly in front of you."

A few seconds later he said, "Indeed Major Sheppard. I also believe this craft to be controlled as an Ancient ship would."

Dacey nodded to no one in particular as she made the ship communications link up with her companion's. She instantly knew who was with who. Apparently, the modified F-302s could detect different people based on their brain wave lengths. Vala was piloting Daniel; Zola was with Mil; Ahn was piloting Wen, and John was alone. Dacey spoke to them all through the ship, "Alright, stay on me and fire at will. Here we go."

Dacey lifted the F-302 off the hanger bay floor and flew it out and into the fray. Klin and Darts flew in every direction. Dacey led the group to the right and away from the Hive. The _Grodin_ was on a steady course towards the lead enemy ships. Dacey barely noticed as it exploded and entirely destroyed the lead Zamoran ship with the alternate reality device on board. Half of the Hive exploded in flames as the other half tilted on impact. It hit another Zamoran ship as it went. Both were obviously finished. Dacey did a nose dive as a Dart squad flew at them and fired. Dacey dodged and rolled multiple times before she could get a clear shot off. The squad following Dacey broke apart to fire at the engaging Dart squad. The prototype screens made it easier to fly and maneuver, giving Earth's squad an advantage. A Dart flew towards Dacey. In turn, Dacey did a sharp turn. After she was passed the Dart, she did a 180 and fired on the Dart before it could turn. The Dart exploded and debris flew in every direction. Dacey turned her ship towards the two remaining Zamoran ships, the rest of her team falling in behind her after finishing their own enemy Darts.

The group proceeded towards the enemy. Drones from Atlantis flew around the squad and hit a couple of Klin and Darts. Dacey continued on her way. Out of her sight, the Retdeo, an Arhgohnnian ship, exploded to bits and debris. Dacey ignored the news when it popped up on a screen. Dacey's squad kept going and engaged another squad of Darts while a squad of Klin approached.

Dr. Keller-McKay ran around the medical bay. People infected with the plague kept coming in from around the city. Atlantis was almost entirely infected. Surprisingly, Jennifer wasn't affected; however, Rodney was lying in a bed and restrained. She hadn't had time to figure out why she was immune because of all the incoming patients.

Abbie drug in a scientist. The commander of Atlantis had been doing this all morning, not afraid of becoming ill herself. Although Abbie wasn't showing symptoms, Jennifer knew it was only a matter of time. Abbie laid the scientist on a blanket set on the ground. The beds were all full and the medical staff was getting desperate. Jennifer went over and started taking her vitals; they were all stable. Abbie leaned down, "How many people are infected?"

"Over 100 now. We're running out of room and my medical staff is among the infected, so I'm one of the only ones left. Anna and Radek are the only people I know of that are left trying to figure out a cure."

Abbie pursed her lips and nodded. She whispered, "I'm going back out to get more of the infected. I'll get more sedatives before I go."

Jennifer merely turned back to the scientist. She was breathing normally and Jennifer used restraints to tie the scientist's arms to her sides. After that, Jennifer tied her feet together. As she finished, the scientist began thrashing and yelling, eyes flying open as he awoke. The doctor fumbled with a syringe. Finally, she shot the man up with another sedative. He relaxed slowly while his breathing went back to normal. Jennifer stood and began working again on other people.

Abbie ran through the halls, her hair falling out of her ponytail. She reached the control room in time to see a blast from a Zamoran ship hit Atlantis on the screen. The entire city shook and lights flickered every which way. The city was taking a beating with no shield. Zelenka and his daughter were too preoccupied with the plague to make the drones more effective, so they were having problems. Plus, on top of that, the Werda, Koilu, _Asgard_, and _Hammond_ were the only ships left in range to help. The _Odyssey_ was on the way to the Athosian colony in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Abbie's eyes widened as the dot, on the screen map, that symbolized the Koilu, disappeared. It had been destroyed! Abbie contacted the new person controlling Atlantis; the last had come down with the plague. The Air Force pilot immediately answered.

"Yes, Ma'am? What can I do for you?"

"I know you're flying the city but, we have a problem. The alien ships are kicking are butts. I need you to target one ship and fire everything, don't hold back."

Static took over the radio and then he said, "Yes, Ma'am."

Almost immediately, tiny white dots can be seen through the city's glass windows glowing towards the lead Zamoran ship. Through the glass, Abbie could see part of the enemy's ship explode and go red. The rest of the ship blew apart a few seconds later. Abbie glared at the ship as it went out. A green blast hit Atlantis, shaking the entire city. Abbie swore under her breath while hitting the radio in her ear. She once more spoke with the man controlling the city, "Officer, do we have any drones left?"

"We have a few but, not many, Ma'am."

Abbie sighed then said, "Fire at will. Shaun can reverse engineer more."

The screen showed he was firing them; it appeared Earth would win this fight.

Dacey finished off another squad of Klin. With her squad behind her, she headed back towards the Hammond. Most of the enemy crafts were destroyed. Those left could be taken care of by the F-302s.

After the group landed, they headed back towards the bridge. General Siler glanced their way when they entered the bridge. Shaun ignored them and kept helping Samantha. John left the bridge and headed in a random direction. Dacey walked towards Siler and focused out the front window on the bridge.

"General, what else do you need us to do?"

"Major, you aren't really needed. The Zamora ship is about to be destroyed and most of the Klin are destroyed. However, I'm going to have to ask you and your team to stay on board. Atlantis contacted me and told me there is a quarantine. There's an altered Ori plague among the crew."

Dacey frowned and saluted the General as she left the bridge. The young officer headed towards the mess hall. Zola, Mil, Ahn, and Wen followed silently behind her. The rest of the group disbanded without another word. Dacey reached the mess hall after a few minutes. Nobody except John was there. Dacey went over and sat at his table, directly across from him. The rest of the people sat on the other side of the room.

Dacey pursed her lips then asked, "Why are you here, really?"

"Not buying my story, I guess?"

Dacey frowned, "No."

John's lips twitched up, "We were trying to steal the alternate reality device thing. Earth, from where I came from, is being destroyed by the Wraith. Entire countries were fed on and left empty. Korea, gone. Brazil, gone. Chile, Mexico, England, France, Japan, Turkey, Iran, all gone. We needed to find a way to get away. The Zamora figured out how."

Dacey cocked her head and laughed darkly, "So screw the next universe, huh? Don't destroy the monsters' way to get to a new world to destroy. Tell me, what about my mother? She would never have let you do it."

John gave an annoyed grunt, "I don't know who your mother is. I don't have a kid in my reality; I only have an adopted son. Enlighten me."

"Larrin, of the Travelers. She was my mom and your wife. She wouldn't have let you destroy other people's lives to save your own."

John rolled his eyes, "How could I live with her. I married Teyla and adopted Torren. Wait, you said was my wife. Why?"

Dacey's face in a mask of bitterness, "She and you died on a Traveler colony set up in the Pegasus Galaxy. The Wraith fed on the entire colony. My sister and I were visiting Atlantis while our parents help stabilize the government of the colony. I stayed when they died and my sister, Lin, went back to be raised by the Travelers."

John smiled, "I only wish they had killed her in my reality too. She is a cocky, annoying, cruel, freaky son of a –"

Dacey slammed her palm down upon the tabletop and stood while yelling, "Shut Up!"

Wen and Ahn approached from behind her back. Wen said, "You should be quiet."

Dacey turned to her and said, "He lied to us about why he's here. I don't know what else he's lied about too. Take him to the brig."

Both raised their weapons. Wen nodded and motioned with her gun for him to get up. John put up his hands and did what he was told. As he passed Dacey he whispered, "You don't know what you're getting into. Now the Zamora know about you, they won't give up until they have sent more soldiers and killed all of you."

Dacey glared at him while Wen pushed him forward with her gun. Dacey let out a breath as she twisted to look at Mil. She said, "Mil, why didn't you tell me? How can I trust you?"

Zola said, "She didn't know. John lied to her so she would help him. If she had known, she would've stopped him."

Dacey resigned to the fact that Zola would defend her and believed in what she said. The major supposed she was being honest. The silver disk on Zola's temple gleamed, reminding her that she knew everything Mil did. Dacey sat down again, head held in her hands, utterly tired and suddenly looking small. Zola and Mil didn't know what to do so they left.

Mil asked, "Where are we going to go now?"

"Engineering. Maybe we can monitor the fight from there."

As the two made their way, the _Hammond _rocked with the blasts from the enemy.

On Atlantis, the medical bay had spread into the hall and some were being taken to the mess hall now as well. Doctor Keller was running between the patients, trying to get to one who had broken his restraints and was thrashing and foaming at the mouth. Jennifer bent over and strapped him back down. She stabbed him with a sedative, which was now running low. Jennifer sighed while she stood. Most of Atlantis was infected.

Abbie was still bringing in patients; apparently she was immune to the plague too. Out of the blue, the lights in Atlantis flickered and went off. A few seconds later they came back on. Keller hit her radio and spoke, her voice breaking at the end, "Abbie? What was that?"

"Damn it. The officer flying the city is infected. The lights went out before the city could take back over."

Keller gasped, that meant no one was left to fly. Everyone left didn't have the gene. On top of that, they couldn't bring in anyone with the gene because they could be infected too. Jennifer began walking towards the control room and where Abbie surely was. When she arrived, Abbie was sitting at an Ancient control station. Abbie was rearranging crystals and cursing and rearranging them again. Obviously, her people to do it were infected; no one else was in the control room.

Abbie glanced up when Jennifer entered and said, "Doctor?"

Keller walked over to stand in front of the console before saying, "I just wanted to know what to do. No one is left to fly the city."

Abbie stared at the gate for a moment and said, "We sit. We contain the infected and do what we can."

Jennifer nodded. That was the smart thing to do. It was stupid hope that made her think it would be ok. Abbie put a crystal into place and said, "General Siler, this is Atlantis. We have lost control of the city. All our people with the Ancient gene are infected."

General Siler said, "Acknowledged. We will protect the city and continue fighting."

Abbie nodded and removed the crystal. Jennifer went back to the medical bay.

Mil and Zola stood in engineering, looking at a screen on a side wall, out of the way. Zola pointed to a graph on the screen and Mil nodded absently. They had been monitoring the battle from there. It hadn't been much of one since they had the advantage against the two remaining ships, with Atlantis and all. As the pair watched, the Ancient city stopped firing and flying. General Siler a moment later made a ship-wide announcement: The city was dead in the water and the _Hammond_ was to protect it. Be prepared for additional damage. Mil looked panicked as she stared at Zola, who looked about the same. As the announcement ended, a blast hit the ship and rocked the _Hammond_. A beeping started emitting from an engineering station.

Two more hits made contact and a screen turned red, indicating bad conditions. Another hit rocked the ship. This time, the console the pair had watched exploded into sparks and debris hit Mil and Zola. A metal piece cut Zola across the chest, close to the heart. Blood pooled on the ground around her. More consoles exploded around the room and tubes attached to the ceiling fell. Mil was cut across the forehead shallowly. She crawled over to where Zola lay on the floor. People ran around the room, trying to save the ship. No one had time to help them. Mil stood and tried picking up Zola. After a few attempts, she decided to half drag/half carry her to the medical bay.

Once in the hall, she started down a deserted hall. About halfway, she fell from exhaustion and due to Zola being slippery with blood. Zola spit up blood that dripped down her cheek. Zola whispered, "Mil…"

Mil knelt beside her and whispered back, "Yeah, I'm here. I didn't realize how much we weighed," she laughed slightly.

"I was planning to go on a diet. Mil, you can't get me there."

The _Hammond_ shook violently with a few more blasts. Both ignored it. Mil said stubbornly, "I can get you there. Just you wait and see."

She started grabbing Zola to begin again when Zola batted her hands away, "Forget it. I'm dying. Don't try telling me otherwise; I'm not stupid."

Mil started to object when Zola reached up and took out the memory disk and thrust it to Mil. She whispered, "I can't be there for them, so I want you to be. Take my memory and life. Never let them know I died. As far as they know, you did."

Mil hesitated then put it into her temple, "Why?"

Zola whispered, "To save them pain," as an airman rounded the hall's corner.

Mil turned and yelled, "Help me, she's dying! I can't drag her there myself."

Zola half smiled as she let out her last breath. The airman knelt down to see her eyes unfocus.

Dacey stepped back onto the bridge. She had composed herself and assumed that being on the bridge was better than sitting and waiting. General Siler was ordering various things. A green blast shot across the sky outside the window towards the Hammond. When it hit, the pilot was knocked out of his chair and onto the floor. As he landed, his head hit the floor and blood formed on his brow. The pilot sat up and held his head, obviously suffering against a concussion.

Dacey jumped over him and took his spot piloting. The injured pilot stood and went out of the room, presumably to the medical bay. Dacey concentrated hard as she tried firing as well as pilot. She hit one of the Zamoran ships as well as her allies did. The Hammond rocked with another direct hit. Shaun yelled from behind, "Engines are down!"

Air hissed out of a pipe from the ceiling as it came undone and fell. The Zamora fired relentlessly at the Hammond. Green blasts hit the _Hammond, Asgard_, and Werda. General Siler yelled, "Target the ship everyone else is firing at!"

Dacey started firing at the lead ship that was almost done with. As soon as it exploded, the guns were turned to the other, which was quickly disposed of. Dacey relaxed as it went down. Crew members around the room cheered and Shaun came up behind Dacey. He patted her on the shoulder as he cheered; she smiled as she leaned back.

The Werda contacted them and General Siler put her on the ship-wide speaker. Allanni yelled, "We have achieved victory!"

General Siler responded, "Yes, commander, we have. You should land on Earth and make repairs. We will send over the coordinates for you to land at now."

"My thanks to you, First. Our ship is only lightly damaged; it will not take long to fix."

General Siler smiled and responded, "See you on the other side."

After that, he cut the radio feed and ordered them to land by the Werda and tell the _Asgard _to do the same.

In their quarters, Zelenka and Anna were working as best they could to figure out how to cur the plague. They were yelling at each other in Czech and were going in circles. Finally, Zelenka noticed this and pointed it out. Anna sighed and said, "What do you want me to do? This plague is different enough from the original Prior's Plague to not have the same cure. This is beyond me, dad. Any thoughts?"

Zelenka laid his tablet on a night stand and sat down beside his daughter on his bed. Anna handed him her tablet and he studied it thoroughly. His eyes widened, "Anna, your theory-. Sakra, to je to."

Anna looked at him, "What?"

"This is it. This is the cure. We have to give this to Doctor Kelle-, I mean McKay."

Radek stood up and scurried through the door quickly. Anna followed closely, determined to help her father. Radek raised his hand and waved it over the crystal rectangle to open the door. He stopped in the doorway and said, "Stay here and lock the door."

After he passed through the door, it closed before Anna. She frowned at him as it did. Radek jogged to the medical bay and stepped over unconscious people. Jennifer was tying up another patient. Radek approached her while thrusting the tablet at her. She looked down at it and whispered, "Oh my."

She took it while walking over to a supply cabinet. Grabbing a few bottles, she went over to Amelia Banks-Zelenka and shot multiple drugs into her arm. Immediately she became more pink and she opened her eyes saying, "Where am I? Jennifer?"

Jennifer smiled and put a calming hand on her arm, "Amelia, you're in the medical bay and need to rest."

Amelia mumbled "ok" and seemed to relax and try to sleep. Jennifer began going from one patient to another to inject them. Around the room, people were sitting up and rubbing their heads, as if they had a headache. Zelenka grabbed bottles too and started injecting people on the other side of the room from Jennifer.

Abbie walked into the room as people were waking up. She said, "What the-?"

Zelenka turned to say, "Anna figured it out unknowingly. Once I saw it, I brought it to Doctor McKay."

Jennifer poked her head in from the hall, which she was treating patients in. She simply said, "Uh, guys, we have a problem."

An hour later, Abbie, Zelenka, Anna, Amelia, and Jennifer sat in the meeting room. Jennifer explained, "The drugs I used to cure my patients only worked because they had some of their immune system still intact due to them being in the early stages of the plague. Some of the first to come in, like Ronon, have no immune system left. The drugs, essentially, are useless. They are either going to change into whatever it is they are becoming or die. I still have hope that Radek and I can figure out how to stop the transformation though."

Everyone in the room knew what that meant; she didn't know how to fix them and didn't think she would find out anytime soon. Everyone also knew, she would keep trying. Rodney was among the first infected.

Abbie clasped her clammy hands together and looked directly at Jennifer while whispering, "How many? Who?"

"Around two dozens," Jennifer said and started listing people. She flinched when she ended with Rodney's name.

All the people in the room noticed but, they stayed quiet, trying not to upset her. The group didn't make a sound for a few seconds until Abbie said, "Radek, help Jennifer find a way to stop this thing before people die. Anna, Amelia, fill in the patients who are waking up. Tell them the simple version and move. Make sure they eat something too. My grandmamma always said, never operate on an empty stomach."

The ensemble nodded and went out of the room when Abbie said, "Dismissed."

Chapter 10

Ahn and Wen, walked down a hall towards the mess hall. They had just come from a briefing with Cameron Mitchell. It had been brief and the commander told them all to get some rest and food into them. When they got there, they both grabbed trays full of food and sat in a corner together. Ahn eyed one of his glasses with food in it. Using his spoon, he poked the content, which in turn jiggled. Seeing his confusion, Wen said, "It's called Jell-O. Try it."

Giving a slight shrug, Ahn took a spoonful of the blue gelatin and ate it. He raised his eyes to meet Wen's and said, after swallowing his Jell-O, "This is the most delicious food I have ever tasted!"

Wen's lips twitched up and she put her glass of red gelatin on his tray. Then she stated, "You never said why you wanted to be a fighter so badly. I know your brother did his job better than others so, they let you as a favor to him."

Ahn stopped eating for a second before swallowing his Jell-O, already in his mouth, while putting down the spoon. He hesitated then said, "I suppose, I hated being helpless and doing nothing while our forces were off fighting. I suppose I didn't want to be a mindless breeder, like an animal. Why did you join the Atlantians? Are you human?"

It was Wen's turn to hesitate. She fidgeted with her gun in its holster, switching it between stun and kill. Then she said, "No, I'm not human. I'm half human/ half Satedan. Ronon, my father, was from Sateda."

Ahn cocked his head, curious about the female warrior's origins. He asked, "Will you tell me of Sateda? I have never heard of the planet."

Wen nodded and continued fidgeting with her pistol. While she spoke, Ahn quietly began eating his Jell-O again, "Sateda was in the Pegasus Galaxy. It was a good planet with honest people and some of the best fighters. The Wraith thought it was getting too advanced so, they culled the entire planet. Only about 300 survived. My father was captured and forced to be a runner, a person with a tracker embedded in them who is to run only to be captured again by them for entertainment."

Ahn set down his spoon again and stopped her hand fidgeting with the pistol. He met her gaze evenly and said simply, "I'm sorry."

At about that time, Dacey grabbed a metal chair which made a ton of noise as she dragged it over to the duo's table. Ahn took his hand back as Dacey set the chair at the end of the table and slouched into it. Once she was situated, she opened a bag of Goldfish in her hand and began eating them. She was addicted to them along with Tic-Tacs. Dacey asked, "Whatcha doing?"

Neither answered, unsure if the other wanted them to. Dacey raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly saying, "I get it. The two of you were having a private conversation. You know what? The two of you would make a cute couple in the fighters-found-love-together way. Like boxers. Or Marines."

Wen frowned and Ahn chuckled until Wen kicked his shin under the table. Wen gave Dacey an annoyed look as she walked away. Ahn took a longing look at his Jell-O, then went after her. Just as he was about to follow Wen out the door, he went back and grabbed his Jell-O and spoon. Smiling and taking a bite, he quickly made his exit. Dacey smiled and rolled her eyes at them.

Wen and Ahn walked toward the gym, now dressed in fresh clothes. Wen donned nearly the same outfit as before. Ahn had elected for a white muscle shirt and shorts. Wen thought he looked good in the shirt because it showed off his muscled body in a_ very_ appealing way but, she kept it to herself. He still had no shoes. When they arrived, a metal circle above their heads was near the door: a basketball hoop. Ahn looked up to it in awe. He said, "What in creation is that?"

Wen said, "It's a basketball hoop. I'll teach you how to play."

She tried explaining it to him in simple terms but, as she went on he became more confused. Sighing, Wen said, "Just try to get the ball through the hoop."

Shrugging, Ahn threw the basketball she handed him at the hoop. Missing, it hit the middle of the backboard and came right back at him. Ahn ducked as it went where his head had been. It hit the floor and started bouncing towards the opposite basketball hoop. Ahn said, as he looked at it over his shoulder, "Wow!"

Wen laughed a pure, real laugh she hadn't done in what seemed forever. Ahn changed his gaze to her and smiled broadly, showing off perfect white teeth. He thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He said, "I've never heard you laugh. Why do you not more often?"

She gave his a mischievous glance and a playful shove. She said, "Come on. You still can't play basketball yet. I'll show you how to shoot."

Wen went over and grabbed the ball, which now was just rolling on the floor. Coming back, she got prepared to shoot and made a great shot. Ahn stared at the ball in wonder for a moment before going and getting it. He looked sheepishly at her. She got in a position to shoot and he mimicked her. She demonstrated how to shoot and he did the same, while actually shooting.

The ball left his hands and hit the backboard with a loud thump. The basketball came back and hit the rim, nearly going in but, it rolled over the rim and onto the ground, not going in. Ahn frowned and went to get the ball.

The two worked together to teach Ahn how to play. When he had mastered shooting, Wen took the ball and said, "Now I'll teach you how to dunk."

Ahn raised his slim eyebrows as she ran and jumped to the hoop. Grabbing on to the smooth metal, she released the ball and stayed on the rim. Ahn opened his mouth slightly but, didn't say anything. He came closer to her; she dropped from the rim. Taking another step forward, Ahn caught her, wedding style, like in all the corny romance novels. Wen gasped, she was so surprised. Ahn looked down into Wen's deep chocolate eyes. She looked into his deep blue ones, that looked like water: clear and bright. The two leaned towards each other when the internal communications came on. Mitchell's voice came on the communications, "Wen, Ahn, Dacey, Zola, Shaun, report to the briefing room."

The two stopped and leaned away from each other. Ahn slowly let her down, feeling suddenly how close they were. Wen's cheeks flared red and Ahn gave a sad half-smile as she started out the door. He followed after her.

By the time Wen and Ahn arrived at the room, everyone else was already there. They sat down as far away from each other as possible. Cameron Mitchell sat at the head of the elongated table. He leaned forward in his chairs and laid out a few papers in front of him. He said, "Atlantis is still having trouble. They contacted me a few minutes and said it was a classic case of people turning into aliens they know nothing about. So, we need options."

Shaun said, "Let me ring up to the city and help my mom. In theory I should be immune to the disease like my mom."

Mitchell leaned back and frowned. After a few tense moments, he said, "Alright. I doubt I could stop you."

Dacey started to object at about the same time as Mil did. Both were getting angry and kept arguing until Cameron said, "Enough! We could use another genius in the city. And unless any of you have his IQ and are immune to the plague, I don't wanna hear it."

Dacey knew he was right. She couldn't do anything to help him. Dacey sat still, glaring and giving an annoying glance at Mitchell. He just gave her a stern look back. Shaun looked at Cameron and said, "With your permission, I'd like to take my leave and get up to Atlantis."

Cameron responded, "Granted."

Shaun stood and exited through the metal door, a slight hunch in his shoulders Dacey could tell meant he didn't want to go. He was just putting on a brave face because he felt he had to for everyone else. Dacey frowned as he went. After he was gone, Mitchell told the remaining, "For the rest of you, get some rest and be ready for anything."

Dacey sighed and left quickly while Ahn and Wen gave each other a glance before leaving together. As Dacey stormed down the hall, Wen and Ahn came up behind her and began keeping pace behind her. Ahn said, "Would you like to get a cup of, what's it called? Coffee?"

"Thanks Ahn but, I think I'm going to hit the gym. I'll leave you two to have fun. Maybe you can even get a room."

Dacey snorted at her own joke. Wen rolled her eyes and said, "Dacey, you need a room, not me."

Dacey turned a corner and went straight to the gym as the duo split off to go wherever they were going. Inside the gym, a basketball court was the first thing in sight. Beyond that, rows of machines stood and past that, locker room doors gleamed silver. Dacey headed to the men's lockers. She pushed aside the door which felt cool against her hand, after she knocked and made sure it was empty. She timidly walked towards the locker that her dad used to use. After he died, everyone had silently agreed to leave it the way it was and not touch it. Back then, Dacey hadn't wanted to see the locker and up 'til now, she hadn't either. Debating whether or not to look in it, she remembered something Shaun had told her once, "I know you don't need to know about your dad but, you deserve to know where you came from."

They had been talking about whether or not to review his military record after his funeral. Shaun had said to but, she hadn't anyway. Thinking of it presently, she thought he was right. Stepping forward, she opened John's locker. Inside, a uniform hung along with workout clothes. On the top shelf, cologne, deodorant, and socks were strewn. In the bottom of the locker were his shoes, polished but dusty. On the inside of the door, pictures of John, Lin, and Dacey on their different vacations were taped up. Larrin wasn't in any of them on the inside because she always hated to be in them. There was one picture at John's eyes level that showed the entire family. The group was in the Traveler colony in the Pegasus Galaxy. They were all smiling, hugging, and Dacey was on John's shoulders. This was the last picture taken before they had died. Tears slid down her face without her wanting them to. She let them be though; knowing Shaun would say it was okay.

Wen and Ahn were in Wen's quarters, sitting at her round table that had only two chairs. Ahn was explaining a traditional Arhgohnnian card game. They had all the same numbers in their base 10 system, so it was not terribly different from Satedan card games. The rules were terribly difficult though, confusing Wen and frustrating her. Wen threw her fistful of cards onto the table in front of Ahn and said, "I give up! How could you ever play this?"

Ahn laughed a loud laugh that echoed in Wen's room. He said, "Alright, we won't play my favorite card game I guess."

Wen crossed her arms over her chest and gave an annoyed look towards the male alien. She stood and started pacing the room and said, "I'm going crazy doing nothing. Can we go to the gym and practice fighting unarmed or getting out of different holds?"

Wen kept pacing back and forth in the room. She felt trapped and nervous for Atlantis and totally helpless.

The chair scraped against the floor as Ahn stood up. She ignored it and continued pacing away from him. The boy alien went to where she was pacing. When Wen turned to pace back, Ahn stopped her by holding her shoulders. The two leaned towards each other, close enough to kiss. At the last second before they touched, Ahn whispered, "Yeah, we can practice sparring."

Ahn briskly walked out of the room and towards the gym. Wen blinked back tears furiously and followed.

When they arrived at the sparring room, which was attached to the gym but, you had to go through the lockers to get to, Wen circled around the outside of the mat. Anger suddenly swelled inside her, burning in her gut. Just when she had begun to fall for him, he had used sparring, her favorite hobby, as an excuse to get away from her. He was going to pay, she thought. Satedans were great at revenge and were even better at hand-to-hand combat.

Neither Wen nor Ahn had changed clothes but, they had come in and got ready to fight, stretching and such. Ahn stood in the middle of the mat and eyed Wen as she circled, waiting for her to make the first move. She waited for him to move and start the fight. After a few more circles around him, she lost patience and began walking towards the middle where he stood. She faked a punch to his face and kneed him in the stomach at the same time. He had raised his arms to block his head, leaving his middle exposed.

Ahn doubled over and fell to his knees as Wen began circling him again, clearly waiting for him to get back up. Ahn waited a few seconds, catching his breath, then reached out and pulled her ankle out from under her as he stood. Wen had been ready for him to and kicked up her other foot, connecting right in the middle of his chest. Stumbling back, he grasped at his chest and gave her a glare, showing he was going to fight for the win now; no more nice guy. Wen rolled to the side and to her feet. When she was up, she had rolled up so that her back was to the male alien. Ahn rushed at her from behind, trying to get a headlock with one arm and trying to wrap his other around her to trap her arms to her sides. Wen grabbed the one around her neck, straightened it, and used it as a lever to flip him over her. Surprised, he did nothing but let her. When his back hit the mat, a low moan escaped his lips. And, once again, Wen started circling. Ahn noticed and it made him think of a certain bird on his planet that was a scavenger and circled its dead prey. Frowning, he sat up, then finally stood, facing her. She cocked her head to the side and asked mockingly, "Who taught you to fight?"

Furious, he sprinted at her and bent down to try and tackle her. She stepped to the side, grabbed his shoulders and held them still until his feet came out from under him and he was on his back again. He said annoyed, "I'm not getting up. You'll just kick my butt. And for your information, great warrior taught me."

Wen looked at him and said, "Fine. I'll play your game. I'll still win."

She knelt beside him and motioned with her hand for him to attack her. He jumped at her, landing on his stomach when she dodged. When he got back onto his knees, she came from behind him and head locked him. She said calmly, "Give?"

Ahn simply nodded. When she let go, he gasped for air. Taking ragged breaths, he turned to stare at her. He sat down, facing her, and asked, "Where did you learn to fight?"

"My father. He obviously is still better than me but, I learned well enough I guess."

Ahn smirked and leaned forward to look her over and said, "Yeah. Not surprising. So, do you always spar for fun or do you do anything else?"

Wen frowned, concentrating. She scooted towards him and sat crossed legged in front of him. She said, "I was trained by my dad to be a fighter, starting at a young age. And my mom kinda balanced it out. She taught me kindness and such but, yes I typically do spar and shoot for fun. I don't know what else to do."

Ahn was silent for a few seconds. He shifted his weight and cocked his head before he said, "I think you have more to you than you give yourself credit for."

Wen gave a small laugh before she said, "Yeah, sure. Everyone sees me as myself, a mindless fighter."

Ahn shook his head furiously and insistently said, "No. I don't think so. You're wrong."

With the last statement, he took her hand. Shivers went through her entire spine; it was something that had never happened before, not with anyone. She gave him a timid smile.

Dacey stood by the rings, like the ones the Goa'uld used to use. Shaun was getting a few last things before he came to ring to Atlantis. The room was silent and the guard that had been in there, she had sent off. After a few more minutes, Shaun strolled into the room, a full backpack strapped onto his back. Without a moment's hesitation, he came to her and hugged her. He was so much taller that he actually picked her up too.

Shaun felt the warmth of Dacey and deeply breathed in, taking in her scent of metal and vanilla. After a long time, he hesitantly placed her gently back down on the floor. He gave her a half smile, which she returned sadly.

Shaun stepped into the middle of the ring, glancing at Dacey. She was going to activate the rings. As she was about to dial Atlantis, Shaun said, "Don't let John control you. He's not your father."

Dacey nodded solemnly and dialed up the rings for him. He folded his arms over his decently broad chest and the rings came up, making him disappear in light. Dacey hung her head. The air around her seemed to heat up with tension. Snapping up her head, that had a determined look on it, she slapped the smooth side of the console while she turned and walked out the door.

Dacey walked towards the brig. They had put John in the Ancient holding cell. On the way, Dacey didn't encounter a single person; they were all probably on duty or asleep. When she got to the holding cell, John stood up from the single hard bench in the middle of the rather large cell. The energy field, outside the metal slats, glowed with a slight blue tint.

John pointed at her and said gruffly, "Why the hell am I still in here? Don't you understand this isn't over?"

Dacey folded her arms across her chest, while she tried to keep her expression blank. She cautiously asked, "What do you mean it isn't over?"

John gave a tight laugh. He put both hands on his hips and walked a circle, ending by looking back at her. He said, "The Zamora aren't done with you. They always split up their forces and attack all the enemy's allies at about the same time. You still have another fight to win."

Dacey turned to walk out and skidded to a stop at the door. Glancing over her shoulder, she said quietly, "You're nothing like my father."

After she said that, she walked out.

Shaun stood in Atlantis, in the infirmary. Dr. Keller-McKay scurried between her patients. The ones who still had the modified Prior's plague were changing into something. Jennifer couldn't tell what but, they definitely were changing. Katie Brown, the first to get the plague, was lying in a bed with straps over her body. Ronon stood over his wife, or at least what used to be his wife. Now, she had green transparent skin with black veins that could be seen. Her hair was now black as well with an occasional dark green strand. Her face was the worst part of her to look at: it had become all sharp angles and lines with a straight mouth. She looked like a killer. Jennifer was worried for her friend and was even more worried about what she was becoming. Ronon didn't seem fazed; he just stood watch over her.

Shaun approached Jennifer and said, "Mom," she hugged him before asking quickly, "Why are you here?"

Shaun said, "To help you. What can I do?"

Jennifer sighed and looked around the room with little hope. She replied, "Figure out a way to stop this from happening to them."

Shaun nodded soberly as Abbie came in. She went to a medicine cabinet, took out a few pills, and swallowed them. Jennifer went over to her, obviously annoyed, and said, "I thought I told you not to raid my stash of caffeine pills. It's not good for you."

Abbie gave her a stubborn look and retorted quickly, "I don't have time for anything else. Atlantis needs me."

Without waiting to hear what Jennifer had to say, Abbie stalked out. Shaun started snapping his fingers, like Rodney did. He took two long strides to the cabinet and peaked in. Quickly, he grabbed the bottle of caffeine pills. Checking the label, he looked back up and ran out of the infirmary towards his shared lab with Rodney.

In the lab, Shaun went up to his desk and slammed down the pills. Rodney obviously wasn't there, so he furiously typed into both of their computers, doing multiple calculations at once. The computer had issues keeping pace and soon Shaun had to wait on them to catch up. Impatiently, Shaun began tapping his foot and mumbling, "Come on. Come on."

After a few minutes, the computers binged at the same time. Shaun broke into a smile and yelled, "Yes!"

He grabbed the bottle of pills and jogged back to the infirmary. When he got there, he shoved them into Jennifer's arms and told her, "Hold those; I'll be back."

Jennifer mumbled something like, "ok." Shaun didn't hear though; he was off to grab a pot of coffee. He knew how to cure them.

Chapter 11

Mil stood silently over the bed. She was in a back room in the SGC, which was cold and dimly lit. The walls were plain silver metal except small metal doors that lined them: doors that led to trays with dead bodies. She was in the morgue of the SGC. Zola was laid on a tray that she had pulled out of the wall and covered up to shoulders with a white sheet. Mil must have stared at the body for over an hour, not really seeing her but, was instead thinking. Mil knew she had wanted her to act like her and live her life. It was odd; Mil could remember thinking about it through Zola's memories. Mil couldn't quit thinking how wrong it felt to not tell them but, what could she do? She knew how much it had meant to Zola not to tell and yet, it still made Mil feel awful. The lights flickered, startling her into jumping slightly.

She looked at the body, really looked at it. A tear made its path down her cheek as she whispered, "I wish you were still here. I can't be me but, I really can't act like you very well either. What am I supposed to do?"

Mil sighed at the silence that followed. She hadn't expected an answer. However, saying it out loud made it a little more real. Mil shook her head and said, "I'm sorry Zola. I'm so sorry. I should've died, not you. Obviously I'm replaceable. I guess I'm just lucky I got stuck here. My reality is…," Mil couldn't finish. She shuttered at the thought and the cold. Now that she knew what other realities were like, she could never go back to hers. Mil slid the tray back in, hearing a slight click as it stopped in the back. Hearing it, she shut the door and stepped away. Taking one last glance at it, she walked away.

Dacey stomped her way to her quarters. Inside, she stripped and grabbed her Athosian-made outfit. She quickly shoved it on.

As she went, she passed people who looked surprised someone could actually be in a hurry to get somewhere.

Dacey went straight to the shooting range next door to the gym. No one else was in there so, she picked up a weapon at the door, loaded up a target, and starting firing at will.

Shaun walked up to Katie Brown with a pot of coffee and a bottle of caffeine pills. Jennifer came up behind her son. Ronon practically growled, "What are you doing?"

Shaun popped a pill in Katie's mouth and some coffee. He made her swallow it and he turned around to face his mother and Ronon. He hurriedly explained, "Based on what mom told me and the data she gave me about the transformation, I figured out a way to cure them. Tell me, what do all of these people have in common?"

Jennifer stuttered, "Well, that's kinda confidential, don't ya think?"

Shaun sighed and said, "That's not the point. They all have slow heart rates. Give them enough caffeine; their heart rate will speed up. The coffee will interact with the virus, which causes their blood to become extremely oxygenated."

Jennifer eyed him oddly, "So?"

Shaun bobbed his head in impatience, "So, the plague they designed was spread through Carbon Dioxide particles and was protected against any other particles in the air. But, when I was going through the info about the composition of the plague, I noticed it didn't react well to high amounts of Oxygen."

Recognition spread across Jennifer's face. She said excitedly, "And the plague has the side effect of bringing in slightly more Oxygen every heart beat than normal when it comes in contact with coffee. And since the plague is taking over their entire bodies, it will. Then the pills make their heart beat faster, causing more to circulate Oxygen in the bloodstream."

Jennifer went to get her coffee mug from a nearby counter and snagged a bottle of pills from the cabinet. Ronon went back to staring at his wife as son and mother started going around the room, giving people the cure.

After a while of giving people the treatment, everyone was cured. As Shaun gave the last patient the remedy, Katie Brown sat up in her bed. She said, "What happened?"

Ronon leaned over to her; she looked normal again if not paler than usual. Ronon gave a rare smile and said, "You were infected with a modified Ori virus. You're fine now."

Katie Brown nodded and swung her feet over the side of the bed. She stumbled but, Ronon steadied her.

Shaun and Jennifer rushed to her and instantly began berating her for getting up and told her to lie back down. Katie sighed and followed the doctors' orders.

Dacey was changing into her Garrison uniform, the blue military uniform, worn by the people off duty on the base. She had just buttoned up her shirt when Cameron Mitchell contacted her, using the ear radio devices, "Major Sheppard, come to the control room; you're going to want to hear this."

Dacey walked out of her room and towards the control room. On arrival, the general looked her way. Computers lined the wall to her right, under a large window overlooking the Stargate. Samantha Carter-Mitchell sat at one of the computers. Her husband had been looking over her shoulder at the monitor until Dacey arrived. He glanced back at the monitor and said, "Go ahead Atlantis."

Dacey approached the computer and stopped beside the general. Shaun's voice came over the radio, "Hi General Mitchell. I figured out a way to cure my mom's patients who still had the plague. I'm glad to say, Atlantis is no longer under quarantine. Permission for personnel from the SGC to come to the city and help with repairs?"

Mitchell replied, "Granted. I'll send up Dacey, Zola, Wen, and Ahn too."

Shaun said, "Thanks, General. Atlantis out."

General Mitchell nodded while he placed his hand on his wife's shoulder. He looked at Dacey and said, "Get your team together and ring up to the city."

Dacey saluted and left; she walked towards the armory.

Shaun stood in front of Dacey when the transport rings disappeared into the floor, holding out his arms. Dacey smiled and walked straight into his arms, hugging him fiercely. He buried his face in her hair. Shaun could fell her head against his chest, right over his heart. Zola, Wen, and Ahn stood awkwardly behind Dacey, not really knowing what to do. After a long pause, Dacey pulled back from Shaun and looked his in the eyes and asked, "How did you cure the plague?"

Shaun said, with a serious face, "I gave them coffee."

Dacey gave him the most annoyed look she could muster and playfully punched his arm. Shaun said something close to "ow" but, he was smiling the whole time. To everyone else, except Dacey, he was flirting with the major.

Dacey regained her thoughts and said, "Alright, let's go to pay Abbie a visit."

The rest of the group nodded. Dacey and Shaun walked out together, followed by Wen and Ahn. Mil was the last one out, realizing the number of guys needed to be larger. Wen and Ahn were quietly talking about battle strategies as they went on their way. Wen rolled her eyes while she crossed her arms over her chest. Ahn sighed as he gave her a look that said _I think she is so hot when she's mad._ Mil grinned as it all happened.

When they reached the control room, Abbie stood by Anna, who seemed to be working on a computer that was hooked up to one of the many consoles. She cussed in Czech as she typed in a few more things. Dacey paced to Abbie, never giving Anna a second glance, and said, "Abbie, your dad says he can and will send you repair teams."

Abbie shook her head and said, "I would actually, upon thinking on it, like to land on Earth before repairing the city. I could really use you flying the city, if you would."

Dacey gave her an odd look and replied, "Of course."

Dacey turned to walk out of the room, to go fly the city, when Abbie held up her hand. Dacey stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face her commanding officer. Atlantis was being contacted by Arhgohnn. Abbie nodded to Anna, who pushed down a crystal on the console. The transmission came through loudly. In the background of the transmission, blasts and a cacophony of sounds could be heard. Suddenly, a panicked voice came over the radio, "Atlantis! This is Arhgohnn. We are being attacked and need immediate help. I don't kn-"

The alien's words were cut off as a scream filled its place. Then, all the group heard was static. Dacey whipped around while cussing loudly, "Son of a bitch!"

Abbie looked at her puzzled. Dacey told her, "John said the Zamora split up whenever they attacked someone. I didn't believe him because he lied about so many other things."

Abbie looked back at Anna and ordered her, "Anna, contact the SGC. Tell a team of Marines to meet Dacey's team in the ring room."

Abbie looked to Dacey and said simply, "Take your team."

Dacey nodded and grabbed Shaun's arm as the team exited and made their way to the armory and then the ring room. Shaun reached down and intertwined his fingers with Dacey's. She gave his hand a squeeze as she led him onward.

Back at the ring room, a team of Marines waited for Dacey. Dacey wiggled her hand out of Shaun's grasp. He frowned when she did but, Dacey didn't notice his displeasure. Dacey said to the Marines, "You will go ring there first and set up a perimeter around the immediate area and wait for my team to ring in."

The other team nodded and stepped into the center of the ring. The rings came up and lit up the room as they transported the Marines away. Dacey and her team stepped into the room next and ringed away.

When Dacey's team appeared on Arhgohnn, stun blasts flew through the air in every direction. Dacey ducked instinctively while raising her P-90. Shaun bent over Dacey protectively while searching for the shooters. The entire team scattered. The team had ended up ringing to a different city than they had previously been to. Huts were standing in neat rows everywhere, like a giant grid. Shaun pulled Dacey behind a building while Ahn pulled Wen into a hut near the ring. Mil hid behind the building Wen and Ahn were in. Zamora were hiding behind huts as well and were shooting at the Atlantians rapidly. Dacey turned to Shaun and yelled over the commotion, "Cover me!"

Shaun gave her a slight nod before she jumped out from behind the building. Dacey sprinted over to Ahn and Wen while throwing a grenade as she went by the Zamora. Dacey ducked as a green blast went by her and she practically dove into the hut. Wen stuck her head and arms out the doorway, firing her blaster at the enemy as the grenade exploded. Dirt rained down on the huts and dusted Wen's hair. The smell of burnt flesh coated the air and Ahn grimaced as he caught the scent. Ahn stuck his own weapon out the doorway and shot the last Zamora. The team members lowered all their weapons and cautiously stepped out into the open.

The dirt path they stepped onto served as a street. It was littered with the Zamora bodies, as well as debris from damaged and destroyed huts. A few thatched roofs burned slightly and all of them looked like they were at least singed. Smoke curled into the deep blue sky from the fires and the team could hear the fires crackle. Ahn sunk to his knees. He whispered, disbelieving his eyes, "What have they done to my world?"

Wen knelt down next to him and put her free hand on his shoulder. Together, they simply stared at the ruined city. Dacey began walking down the street, kicking Wen's boot as she passed her. Dacey grumbled, "Come on."

Shaun staggered after his best friend, not thinking clearly because he was still shocked someone would do this to a peaceful planet. Wen slowly stood and gently tugged up Ahn after her. She held onto his hand, guiding him along, while a few drops of water landed on his shirt: he was crying for his home. Mil stood back until the others had begun walking and then followed, feeling sick that it was all happening in this reality like it had in hers. She felt disgusted that it didn't even horrify her because she had seen it too many times to count.

Mil kicked at dirt and looked up to notice Dacey was looking in the houses/huts. She made her way into the one Dacey had entered to be greeted by the smell of burned flesh, indicating there had been a fight. On the floor, in the corner, a body, holding a gun, was crumpled over onto itself. Its skin was wrinkled and spread thin over its prominent bones, like a mummy. It had obviously been fed upon. Mil was glad Wen and Ahn hadn't come in too; Ahn would have been horrified.

The city got worse the closer to the center they got. Ahn had stopped crying but, he still refused to speak and was clinging onto Wen's hand for dear life. Wen kept glancing at Ahn as if to make sure he was still in one piece. The huts near the center of the city were nearly nonexistent. All the buildings were broken and scathed. Dacey was surprised Ahn could handle seeing his home like this.

Dacey slowed and stopped next to Ahn. He turned his face to her. Ahn raised his eyebrows, questioningly at Dacey. She said, "Where are all your people? There are bodies, but not nearly enough to have made up your population."

Ahn gave her a small sad, smile. He replied, "I noticed that as well. My people are very smart and are always ready for the worst. If they are hiding, they are in the mountains."

Dacey asked, "They are in it? Like in a cave?"

Ahn nodded. Dacey held up her hand and motioned for Ahn to lead the way. The alien moved passed her and began walking towards the mountains in the distance, which couldn't be seen, due to a fog that was beginning to form.

The team headed down the street until they came upon a small metal building which was still entirely intact. Its metal surface was scorched in places and blackened in places but, it was still intact. Dacey cocked her head as she neared it, curious what it was and the metal it was made of.

Ahn went up to the box and put his palm upon its smooth surface. He winced as a small needle stabbed his palm and drew a few drops of his blood. The box would scan it, making sure it was Arhgohnnian and that the donor was alive. This way, an enemy couldn't cut off a hand and use it to gain access. Besides, most enemies didn't even know the box existed.

Sliding his hand off the wall, Ahn stepped back. Wen went closer to him and eyed the spot where his hand had been as he waited. A door, which blended perfectly with the wall, slid open. Ahn stepped into the room, which wasn't let in the least. His dots glowed as he entered. Wen hesitated before following him in and everyone else followed her. While the Atlantians' eyes adjusted, Ahn stepped forward onto a disk in the middle of the room that was metal. It was maybe ten feet in diameter and was a dark metal, almost black. Ahn urged everyone to get on, which they did. Dacey, confused, asked, "What are we doing on this?"

Before she got an answer, the entire disk started moving downward. The walls of the shaft were dirt and some of it crumbled away onto them as they ventured down. The ride lasted only about a minute but, to the impatient riders, it seemed longer. When it stopped, the disk had taken them to another room that was small. A single door on the wall in front of them was the only difference. Ahn stepped forward and put his palm on this one too. It did the same process to him the last one did and slid open. On the other side was a brightly lit white hall with a white tiled floor. The hall stretched for a long distance, doors lining either side periodically. Each door had grey lettering that told what it was; the words were in Ahn's native tongue so, no one else could read it.

Ahn led the posse forward towards a door at the far end of the hall. An Arhgohnnian female walked out of a random door and saluted Ahn as she passed. Wen crept up slightly behind Ahn, getting edgy because she was in unfamiliar circumstances. The Arhgohnnian female slid by Wen, who eyed the other women as if expecting her to attack or something.

At the end of the hall, the door stood slightly ajar. Ahn cocked an eyebrow and whispered, "Something's not right."

Wen, not needing another explanation, whipped out her blaster. Dacey, Shaun, and Mil held up their weapons at the ready. Ahn nudged the door open the rest of the way. On the other side, a silent dark room was empty, except for a table with a map on it. The overhead lights flickered slightly and Ahn crept towards the map. Dacey looked over her shoulder, down the hall, in time to see all the doors open and Zamora run out. Her eyes immediately widened and her breath caught. She screamed, "Zamora!"

The rest of the people knew what to do from hearing just that. Mil dove behind the door and slammed it shut. It was made of a thick metal so, it would slow them down a few seconds. Shaun asked Ahn, "How can we get out? I don't see any doors."

Ahn frantically looked around him. Sweat started to coat his skin as he looked up. He responded, "Air vents."

Two black squares, barely noticeable, were side by side in the very center of the ceiling. Ahn twined his fingers together, creating a cup for a person's shoe, and glanced in Wen's direction. She stuck her foot on his palms without a second thought. He raised her up so she could reach the squares that, up close, were a grid of metal pieces with square holes large enough for her fingers to go through. Wen stuck her fingers through and yanked out one square and handed it to Mil. Wen looked down at Ahn and asked, "Can you get me higher?"

He nodded and she went upwards more. Wen could see the inside of the vent, which would fit a single person if they crawled. She stuck her arms through the opening and pulled her body into the vent. Turning awkwardly, Wen stuck her head out the vent, prepared to help the next person; her dreads fell over her shoulders and she flicked them out of the way impatiently. Ahn stuck his hands back out for the next person. Mil came forward and soon enough, she was in the vent too. Dacey frowned at Shaun who motioned for her to go first. Nodding, she did and she got into the vent before Zamora began beating against the door. Grunts and moans could be heard from the other side of the door. The lights flickered with every beat on the door. Shaun started towards Ahn, so he could get up but, when he was about to the alien boy, the door busted inward, its hinges breaking and emitting a metal-scraping-metal sound. Zamora flooded into the room. The only visible part of them was their red eyes. Shaun raised his P-90 and shot randomly in the direction of the eyes. Ahn stood by him and yelled, "Get in the vent!"

The alien's hands were cupped and Shaun did what he was told. As Shaun scrambled to get out of the opening to the vent, Ahn jumped up towards the vent. Zamora, realizing their prey was escaping, reached out their hands and tried to grab him. Wen caught Ahn's wrist with both of her outstretched hands as a few Zamora clasped his ankles and started yanking. Ahn dangled his free arm, refusing to grab her in return. He gave Wen a sad look that was mixed with love. He said, "Let go, Wen."

Wen stubbornly shook her head. Ahn got a desperate expression and pleaded, "Please, you can't hold me up forever, no matter how strong you are."

As if on cue, a Zamora gave his leg a tug which almost caused Wen to fall out of the vent. She shifted her body back and braced herself on the sides of the shaft. Ahn reached up with his free arm and slid his hand over her smooth skin to her wrist. Grabbing on, he pulled her hands from each other, making her let him go. He whispered as he fell, "I'm sorry."

Wen did something she would have never done before she met the alien; she showed love and pain in a single scream. Wen yelled, "No!"

The yell emanated pain for the loss of her friend and possibly-more-than friend. Wen tried to climb out of the vent to get to him and help him. Dacey pulled her friend back and told her quietly, "You can't help him."

Below, Ahn fell to the floor, landing flat on his back. Zamora attacked him and tried to pin him down while he kicked at them and swung his fists. After a few seconds, so many Zamora were on top of him that the Atlantians couldn't even see him anymore.

Wen looked away. With a single tear rolling down her cheek, she switched her blaster to kill and said, "Let's go."

Wen took the lead as the entire unit crawled away into a random direction. Considering that Ahn had been the only one who knew his way around, they were screwed.

Chapter 12

Wen sat in the vent, right next to a square leading into the room below. The group hadn't known where to go, considering that the room they had escaped had had the only map they knew of. So, Wen had started crawling and everyone else had followed along. The grate, to the vent, next to her led into a dark, silent room she assumed was empty. Dacey was on the other side of the grate and was ready to take out the grate and put it quietly behind her. Shaun was behind her and was looking at her like she was the most important person in the world. Wen knew he loved her so, it wasn't that surprising that he was looking at her like that. The look was obvious to everyone except Dacey who thought he didn't like her whatsoever.

Wen glanced behind her to Zola who was sitting there uncomfortable. She seemed really nervous but, then again, they were in an alien underground complex, being chased by aliens from an alternate reality. Wen held up a thumbs-up for everyone to see. Dacey nodded and pulled out the grate and handed it to Shaun gently. She didn't even mention that the metal had cut her fingers and blood was now slowly seeping down her hands. Shaun lightly touched her back with his hand while she twisted around so that her butt was over the hole. Grabbing his hand, Dacey lowered herself into the room one handed and raised her P-90 with the other.

Dropping to the ground, Dacey rolled up into a shooting position on one knee. The small flashlight on her gun lit the room. The room was empty as far as she could tell. Dacey gave a quiet, "Clear."

Shaun held out his hand for Wen, who ignored him and just dropped to the floor and rolled up like Dacey had. Zola took Shaun's hand and gracefully dropped. Shaun held onto the side of the hole as he lowered himself. When he was hanging down by only his hands, he dropped and rolled. Dacey watched him, to make sure he was okay, until he stood up from his crouch.

The Atlantians backed up until they were in a circle, with their backs to each other. Their flashlights lit up most of the room, revealing that they weren't alone. Rows of beds were set up and Zamora were in every single one. They seemed to be sleeping, in a way. Their red eyes were closed and their breathing was steady. Their greenish-grey hands were crossed over a pistol that lay on their stomach. They looked like warriors, waiting to be called upon for battle. The door to the room was in the middle of the wall, between rows. The Atlantians stood in the far corner of the room, just beside a counter containing blankets; they weren't close to the door in the least. Dacey swore and quietly ordered the group to follow her.

Dacey began walking as quietly as humanly possible towards the row closest to them. She swallowed hard as she kept going down the row, even though every bone in her body wanted her to jump back into the vent. Shaun left out a small whimper as he saw a Zamora up close. Dacey glared at him for a brief second, to let him know not to make any other sound. To occupy himself and keep himself from making any noise, Shaun began studying the Zamora bodies as he passed them. He looked at him through his scientific side; so, he began to notice that they were different than the normal ones. The Zamora around them had a glowing symbol of their race on their chests. They glowed an ominous green. Shaun thought back to their previous encounters with the warriors. The symbol on their uniforms had been black. Shaun assumed they must be in hibernation or sleeping or something, until they were needed. Dacey held up her hand; then she signaled for the party to get down. They all crouched immediately.

The other Atlantians began wondering why they were crouching when they all heard it clearly. A low moan started up to their far left. Dacey stood and, furtiveness forgotten, ran for the door. The others ran after her. Shaun peeked over his shoulder in time to see a few Zamora stand up and their glowing symbols turn black. His head swiveled to face forward and he ran through the door. In the hall, Shaun told Dacey, "Find a room, to hide in, until them pass."

She nodded and opened a door to their right which led into a room filled with labeled cabinets: storage. They all filed in and shut the door. Heavy footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. Obviously there was more than one Zamora awake and they were heading off somewhere. After the footsteps dissipated and quieted down, Shaun whispered to Dacey who was next to him, "Come on. We have to follow them without being caught."

Dacey hissed, "What? Are you crazy?"

Shaun shook his head furiously while saying, "No. I think they just got their orders for where to go. And I'm guessing they are going to wherever the Arhgohnnians are hiding and trying to kill them."

Dacey looked off into the distance for a minute and said, "Ok. Wen, you're on point. Zola, you're the last one out."

Wen shouldered her way forward and nudged the door ajar slightly. She could see the hall was empty so, she stepped into the hall cautiously, raising her blaster as she did so. Dacey followed and Shaun came after her. Mil sighed and wiped away sweat on her forehead before following. Mil carefully closed the door after herself.

Wen made her way after the Zamora. The hall before her took a turn to the right so, she assumed they had too. Sliding up to the corner of the hall's turn, Wen barely stuck her head around.

She could see the Zamora turning left down another hall. Wen crept around the corner and quietly paced to the next corner. The party behind her followed her example perfectly.

Wen peeked around the current corner too. The Zamora were had stopped in front of one of the side doors. The front few were firing their guns at the door. The door was resilient and hadn't really been damaged yet. Wen turned around to face Dacey and Shaun, who was looking at Wen over Dacey's shoulder. Wen said, "I think we just figured out where the Arhgohnnians are holding out. We need to find a way to the other side of the door."

Dacey said, "Any one feel like crawling through more vents?"

Wen pursed her lips and frowned but didn't object like Dacey thought she would. Dacey nodded and said, "Alright, look up and see if you can find one. We need in that room."

Shaun looked up and saw one directly over his head. He said, "Dacey, I'll give you a hand."

Shaun cupped his hands together and Dacey put her foot into his hands. He lifted her up and she lifted up the grate while scooting it into the vent beside the hole. Dacey then stuck her arms into the vent and lifted herself in. Shaun helped the rest into the vent uneventfully. Dacey held down her hand and he jumped up and caught it. She pulled up Shaun while he lifted himself in.

Once inside, Shaun put the grate back over the hole. Wen waited until it was in place to start crawling. Based on the hall architecture, she began crawling in the vent accordingly. When Wen reached the spot she thought was directly behind the door, she stopped. She said, "This is it."

A grate was directly in front of Wen too so, she picked it up and looked down. Below, Arhgohnnian soldiers prepared to fight the Zamora, who were bound to break through. A female, obviously in charge, yelled orders left and right to other females. No males were present, meaning Ahn hadn't escaped and regrouped with his people; he was truly captured.

Dacey was the first to respond, she scooted to the edge and jumped out. Zola went next followed closely by Shaun. Wen was the last out and she just left the grate the way it had been, not bothering to put it back where it was meant to go.

All the Arhgohnnians turned towards the Atlantians. All the commands and noise stopped immediately. The tables that were being tipped over and moved into defendable positions stopped moving. Dacey turned to face the female who she assumed was the leader. She told the alien, "Hi. I'm Major Sheppard and this is my team. We're from Atlantis."

The alien soldier nodded and responded, "Yes. We radioed you for help. The Zamora are about to break down our door. Get ready."

Wen said heatedly, "Yeah, we got that. Is there any way to track one of your kind?"

The alien responded irritated, "Why?"

Wen rolled her eyes and said, "Ahn was taken by the Zamora. I want him back."

The alien said, "Of course. Do you think we would chance one of our few males running away? We put a tracker inside every born male on Arhgohnn. We will find him."

After that, she yelled to a female, with short white hair, behind her. Loudly, she ordered her to go to the computer room and track Ahn. The other female said, "Yes, First."

The short-haired female scurried off while First looked back to Dacey who said, "Thanks."

The door was pounded on and the pounds became increasingly louder. First said, "Get behind the defenses."

Dacey took no time in following her words. The Atlantians hid behind the table closest to the doorway. First took up a position beside Zola who barely noticed or cared. The door showed its protest with a high-pitched metal-scraping-metal sound.

The door flew open while Zamora started bustling in. The enemies shot their blasters freely at the Arhgohnnians. The tables were partially melted with every blaster hit. Dacey peeked over the table and started firing at the Zamora near the front of the pack. The Zamora fell as they were killed. Arhgohnnians behind Dacey could be heard hitting the ground as they were hit by blasts.

A shot hit Dacey in the left shoulder. The blast burned away part of her shirt and left a large burn covering her shoulder. Dacey let out a sharp cry of pain and shot down the Zamora who had got her. After the alien hit the floor, she shifter her weight and kept shooting. Beside her, Shaun paused and reloaded his pistol. Wen kept firing her blaster at the enemies. Smoke filled the room from their guns firing and such. Bodies of the dead littered the floor increasingly.

When the smoke cleared, Dacey stood up and approached the opened door. Stepping over bodies, she glanced cautiously into the hall. The hall was clear except for a few Zamoran bodies. She crept slowly into the hall further while Shaun came to stand at her side. After she made sure there weren't any more Zamora, Dacey allowed Shaun to spin her around so he could look at her. He lightly fingered the burned edges of her shirt. He tried moving her shirt away from the burned flesh so he could get a full view of the injury. When Dacey winced, Shaun pulled back his hand. He knew she wouldn't show that it hurt her unless it was extremely painful.

First approached the two from behind. Shaun gave her a look and asked, "Do you have any medical supplies available?"

First shook her head regretfully and said, "I am afraid the Zamora have destroyed our medical room and all of our supplies."

Shaun frowned and told Dacey, "I promise when we get back to Atlantis, I will fix you up."

Dacey nodded and gave a forced smile that looked more like a grimace than anything else. Shaun gave her a worried look and nodded slowly. The rest of the Atlantians came out to hall and proceeded to check again for the Zamora. After a few seconds, the short-haired Arhgohnnian approached First. The little female said, "I have located him."

The little female handed over a little metal thing that looked like a bracelet. First nodded to the girl, as if to dismiss her. The female hurried back into the room, obviously scared more Zamora would randomly attack. First gave the bracelet to Wen, who shoved it onto her wrist and looked to First for instructions. First said, "Wave your hand over the top of the band."

Wen did what she was told and a green three-dimensional map popped up. It clearly showed the base and a bright blue dot glowed in one of the far off rooms, on the other side of the base. Green dots surrounded a red dot, which Wen assumed was her. She asked, "What are all the dots?"

First seriously studied Wen before saying, "The green ones represent all female Arhgohnnians. The red one is you. The blue ones are male Arhgohnnians. Since none have come to battle, the only blue dot has to be Ahn."

Wen cocked her head to the side as First added, "We will stay and attempt to find any other stray Arhgohnnians. We believe some are even unaware of the attack and are going about their normal business. You can take your people to find Ahn. A smaller team will be able to be stealthier. Be careful."

Wen didn't give a response but, instead, began following the map to where Ahn's dot glowed. Dacey grimaced and headed after her. Shaun sighed and set off after an injured Dacey. Sweat made his shirt stick to him, he was so nervous. Zola silently floated after them. She debated over a whole different issue. She was still clueless on what to do about her being an alternate reality knock off and all. She was driving herself crazy trying to figure out what to do all on her own.

Wen was barreling to rescue her love so recklessly that Zola was becoming increasingly worried they were going to attract some unwanted guests. However, the entire time, they didn't run into any Zamora, alive anyway. Every few minutes, they would run across a scene that had obviously been a battle but, was long over. Bodies were strewn about, Zamora and Arhgohnnian. Wen made them charge on every time they came across these scenes.

When they arrived at the hall, outside the room containing Ahn, they stopped. Listening for anything coming from the other side of the door, Wen slowly approached the door. Silence was all that could be heard from the other side. Wen opened the door with her free hand while bringing up her blaster with the other. The room on the other side was full of computers, in neat rows. At the end of the middle row, and facing the door, Ahn sat on the floor. His wrists were fastened together, behind his back, as were his ankles. A strip, of what looked like duct tape, covered his mouth. He tried to yell something at them but, it was muffled through the tape.

Wen rushed forward and ripped off the tape. A burning red mark was over his mouth from ripping off the tape. He yelled in pain and then hurriedly said, "It's a trap!"

As he said the last words, Zamora stood up from their hiding places behind some of the computers. The enemy aliens fired at the Atlantians. Wen, furious, began shooting faster than almost humanly possible. The Zamora's shots missed Wen by a couple of inches as she fired wildly. The Atlantians joined in the firefight, except for Dacey who knelt down next to Ahn and began freeing his wrists.

The Zamora all fell, one by one, clutching at their wounds. Shaun rushed to Dacey's side as the last enemy fell. Ahn said, "I don't think there are any more hiding. But, I'm sure more of them heard you."

Shaun frowned and held out his hand to help up Ahn. Accepting his help, Ahn managed to stand. When he was up, he began stretching his limbs and muscles. Wen ran into him, giving him a hug. The embrace lasted only a few seconds before Wen composed herself and let go and made her face look unreadable again.

Dacey looked at Shaun and said, "Any ideas?"

Zola took a step back, giving the group more space. No one noticed until she said, "So, do the Zamora have any idea where the rest of the Arhgohnnians are?"

Ahn said, "I couldn't really tell if the Zamora knew or not."

Dacey knit her brows together, "What do you mean you couldn't tell?"

Ahn shrugged, "Well, they just grunt and don't form actual words."

Dacey grimaced and said, "Alright, so that brings us back to square one. Wen, can you make that map bigger so we can find the rest of the Arhgohnnians?"

"I can try."

Dacey nodded and said, "So, how are we supposed to find the Zamora? I highly doubt that we got all of them."

Shaun started snapping his fingers excitedly and said, "I know how."

He went to a random computer and sat down in its corresponding chair. He began typing furiously. He asked, "Ahn, can you translate some of this for me?"

Ahn stepped over to his computer to help him. Dacey held up her hand and said, confused, "Wait, what are you doing?"

Shaun said in a blunt manner, "The Zamora each have a symbol on their chests. At first, I thought it was decoration but, when we saw the hibernating ones, they glowed, suggesting they are electronic. When they woke up, they knew exactly where to go, proving they were given orders, probably through the electronic symbols. If so, I can track the signals using the sensors I assume this base has."

Dacey cocked her head and tried to force her optimism down. She asked calmly, "Why do you assume the base has some?"

"Obviously they can put some in bracelets. It would be stupid not to put them in a base. And from what I've seen, they're anything but stupid."

Dacey nodded and flicked her hand, indicating for him to go on. Shaun began typing quickly. A few seconds later, he said, "I configured their sensors to pick up the Zamora's electronic signals. And I think I can do more than track them."

Shaun smiled broadly and tapped a few more keys. Dacey let that he said sink in before she said, "What do you mean?"

Shaun's smile got wider and he said, "I can knock every single Zamora out instantly."

"How?"

Shaun pointed at her before rushing ahead and saying, "I can write a signal that would, essentially, tell every one of their electronics to short-out and electrocute them."

Dacey set her mouth in a hard line and said, "Do it."

All around the base, Zamora clutched and clawed at their symbol on their chests. Electricity flowed freely from the symbols and attacked their flesh. Their red eyes showed their hatred for the people who did this to them. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Their green-grey skin burned and some peeled away as more electricity struck them. Giving in to the inevitable, the Zamora fell to the floor, unconscious.

Arhgohnnians ran into the halls and they started shooting the falling enemies. They yelled war cries that sounded throughout the entire base. They hugged each other as the excitement spread through the entire race.

Dacey asked, "It's done?"

Shaun nodded, "Yeah, they should be down and I pulled up a map of where all of them are."

Dacey stuck her face over his shoulder to look at the computer screen which showed a map of the entire base with little grey dots throughout. Shaun could feel how close they were and cleared his throat. Dacey jumped, startled, and asked, "So the grey dots are Zamora?"

Shaun simply nodded. Dacey asked, "Is there any way to tell the Arhgohnnians about the program?"

Shaun took a deep breath, noticing that she still smelled like vanilla and metal. He responded after a pause, "Yes. I can use the internal communications to send a message."

Dacey told him, "Do it."

Shaun pushed a button and said, "Arhgohnnians, this is Shaun, from Atlantis. The Zamora all should be unconscious. This fight's over."

Dacey pulled her head back as Shaun leaned back in his chair. Dacey said, "Let's go home."

Chapter 13

On Atlantis, Shaun, Dacey, Wen, Ahn, and Zola were all in a briefing with Abbie in the briefing room; they had gotten back a few minutes before. Abbie said, "So, I sent a team to Arhgohnn to help rebuilding their cities. My dad told me that the SGC sent a few teams to help too. A few teams of Marines were sent to arrest and bring back all the Zamora on Arhgohnn. Anyone have anything to add?"

Several grunts and no echoed around the room. Abbie spread her hands out on the Ancient table and said, "Alright, in that case, I suggest you all get some sleep and food in you. Dismissed."

Wen and Ahn exited together and headed to the mess hall. Shaun escorted Dacey to the medical bay. Mil went off to Zola's quarters to sort out everything; it had all happened really fast.

Once Dacey and Shaun reached the medical bay, Shaun guided Dacey to a bed and told her to sit. She sat down, with her legs dangling over the edge of the small bed. Shaun approached a small medicine cabinet and removed gauze, disinfectant, and a few other things. Returning to stand in front of Dacey, Shaun placed the medical stuff beside her on the bed.

He wetted down the gauze with the disinfectant. Giving her a nervous and sad smile, Shaun said softly, "This will hurt. Try to stay still."

Dacey nodded for him to continue. Shaun placed the damp gauze to her left shoulder's burn. Dacey immediately hissed and let out a quiet cry of pain. She breathed a few deep breaths and tried ignoring the stinging in her shoulder. Shaun used his free hand to twine his fingers with hers and give them a squeeze. Dacey let Shaun continue to spread the liquid disinfectant over her shoulder. She didn't make another sound but, Shaun could tell it hurt like hell. Dacey's mouth was a hard line and a single tear rolled down her cheek, making its path down her face.

Shaun tried to finish bandaging her shoulder quickly and gently. By the time he was done, her shoulder was entirely covered with a huge white bandage. Shaun released her hand and pulled away. He returned the medicines to their respective cabinets.

Dacey stretched out her left arm, testing her shoulder. She frowned deeply as Shaun came back, carrying a sling. Dacey eyed it suspiciously while Shaun held it out to her. He said, "You need to wear this until your burn is healed. Your shoulder is going to have to keep still while it heals too…"

Dacey started shaking her head and said, "No. I refuse to wear that."

Shaun shifted his feet uncomfortably, he said, "I need you to, Doctor's orders. I'm sorry. I know it makes you feel slightly…"

Dacey rolled her eyes and said, "Useless?"

"Yeah. But, you really should. It will prevent you from using or moving your shoulder. The burn didn't just burn your skin, it burned part of your muscle too."

Dacey shifted on the bed and said, "Fine, will you put it on?"

Shaun nodded and carefully grabbed her left elbow. He slid her elbow and arm into the sling. He put the strap over her other shoulder and clicked it into the clip at the front of the sling. He gently fastened all the straps that held in her arm. When he was done, Shaun looked into Dacey's eyes. She was studying the sling like it was going to bite her.

She hated slings. Dacey also felt helpless when she was hurt; she always had to have help doing normal, simple things and she hated that more than being hurt in the first place. Shaun saw how badly she hated it and felt terrible that she had to wear it.

Shaun pulled her into a half-hug, making sure to not touch her injured shoulder. Dacey hugged him back with her right arm, burying her head against her chest. She breathed in deeply, which made her realize he smelled like mint. It was distinct, making Dacey wonder how she hadn't ever notice before. It was possible he was wearing cologne now. She pushed the thought out of her mind.

Hesitatingly, Shaun let her go and took a step back. He held on to her free elbow as Dacey stood. Dacey headed out of the room and towards her quarters. Shaun followed closely behind her. As they walked the hallways, Dacey edged closer to the wall and ran her fingertips along the wall as she went. She had seen these same walls almost her whole life and never really realized how much she loved the city. Smiling, she dropped her hand and leaned left into Shaun. Instinctively, he wrapped his arm around her, putting his hand on her good shoulder.

Mil was in Zola's quarters, staring at her pictures scattered throughout the room. The main group of them was clustered on her nightstand. They showed Zola with all her friends and one showed her with her older brother, Drake, and younger sister, Leeva. Another one showed her with Ethan, Shaun's younger brother who was a medical doctor on Earth. In the picture, his hair was looked a lot blonder than it normally was but, he still looked good.

Mil had been staring at the pictures for God knows how long. Something inside her finally broke, Mil's knees buckled and she slid to the floor. Using her fist, she pounded the floor. Sobs wracked her thin frame while tears flooded out. She whispered, "I'm so sorry, Zola. You deserved to live, not me. I promise, I won't ever tell."

She had kept it all bottled up inside her and she couldn't take it. Zola had been their friend and had died and Mil couldn't even tell them. She could but, it would be going against Zola's last wish she had said with her dying breath. Mil put her forehead against the cool floor and just cried. She rolled over and into a fetal position. She cried herself to sleep in Atlantis, for the first time.

Wen and Ahn walked into the mess hall together. They both wore fresh outfits, Wen, in her usual leather garb, and Ahn in a white muscle shirt with jeans; he still had no shoes. Inside, they both grabbed trays of food and found a table in the back of the room. Wen shoved her tray onto the table and plopped into the chair nonchalantly. Ahn calmly put his down and quietly sat.

On Ahn's tray, he had three glasses of Jell-O and mashed potatoes plus a turkey breast. Wen had chicken legs on hers, along with mashed potatoes, and green beans. Wen stabbed her food with her fork while Ahn tried to cut his stuff neatly and non-violently. Wen eyed Ahn as he ate one of his glasses of blue Jell-O. It was turning his lips and tongue blue.

Wen noticed how uncomfortable he looked. She said, "What's wrong?"

Ahn scooted closer to the table and said, "I guess I'm just very torn. And I don't know what to do."

Wen stared at him intently and said, "Torn between what?"

"I'm torn between going back and living on Arhgohnn and staying here…"

Wen got a confused look on her face and set down her fork. She asked, "Why would you stay?"

Ahn began studying his food, as if it had become very interesting. He sheepishly said, "Because of you."

Wen asked quietly, "Me?"

Ahn nodded and pushed back his chair. He got up and left his tray as he walked away. Wen's eyes widened and she jumped up and followed him. Ahn found a balcony and walked out onto it. Outside, the stars glowed and Earth could be seen. The planet looked like a beautiful blue marble against a black sheet.

Wen approached from behind him and put her hands on the railing of the balcony. Ahn crossed his arms over his thin chest and stared at Earth. Wen hung her head and said, "Why would you stay for me? Please, just tell me."

Ahn frowned and whispered, "Because, from the first moment I met you, I loved you. You are the perfect warrior and are more than just a fighter. All my life, I wanted to find a female that was different and could do more than fight and have children. My whole life, I was waiting for you."

Wen turned to face him and gently, using her hands, turned his face to her. Ahn put his hands over hers as she pulled him in to kiss her. Sparks flew the moment their lips met and his lips parted with her mouth as they kept kissing. Ahn circled her waist with his arms and pulled her body against his. Wen kept kissing him, barely noticing.

At Wen's quarters, Ahn kissed Wen, while shutting the door as the two came in. Wen wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into her and towards the bed. Ahn didn't protest and reached around and began slipping his hands up her shirt. Wen giggled as he did but, stopped when her lips met his again. Wen started unbuttoning Ahn's jeans and working them off. Ahn grabbed the bottom edges of Wen's shirt and pulled it off, over her head. She pulled his shirt off in turn. Ahn got to work getting her pants off as the couple fell onto the bed backwards.

Now in only their underwear, the couple began kissing each other and exploring each other's bodies with their hands. Ahn kissed Wen, starting with her mouth and continued kissing her, making his way lower and lower on her body. She arched her back into him and groaned. Ahn showed her a mischievous grin as he started making out with her again.

Dacey stopped in front of her quarters, Shaun stopping beside her. She gave him a look and said, "I'm going to get changed and I'll meet you at your quarters in an hour."

Shaun nodded and walked off to go to his rooms. Dacey watched him go and then entered her rooms. She immediately went into the bathroom and turned on the shower and hopped in, after stripping. She needed a bath and wanted one badly. After she got out, Dacey dried off quickly and put on a Garrison uniform, plus the new sling.

Exiting her room, she headed down the hall in the opposite direction from Shaun's quarters. She was headed to the brig. Arriving outside the Ancient brig, Dacey spotted John inside the square prison. It was white with slats and a force field. He stood and pointed at her and yelled, "Get me the hell out of here."

"No."

John said, "I told you about the Zamora, now let me go."

Dacey snorted and said, "Yeah. No. Abbie decided we should keep you locked up until further notice. I came to tell you something, not to listen to you complain. And I have a question. Why did you warn us about the Zamora?"

"It doesn't matter. This isn't over. What did you come to tell me?"

"What isn't over?"

John sat back down on his small bench, in the middle of the cage. He said, "Now that the Zamora and Wraith know that your reality is better than theirs, they will come for you."

Dacey got a disgusted look on her face. She spit back, "I came to tell you: Rot in hell."

At that, she left, heading to Shaun's quarters.

Abbie was in the Atlantis control room, discussing things with her dad over the radio. She asked, "What are we going to do with all the Zamora locked away in our brig? I don't think I could give the order for them to be executed."

Mitchell sarcastically said back, "I don't know. It's not like we usually have aliens from other realities locked up in the SGC's basement. It's possible to put them all in stasis until we can come up with something better. We did find that Ancient stasis outpost in the Pegasus Galaxy, about ten years ago. We at least know it would stay hidden. The Wraith never found it."

Abbie ran her fingers through her hair and put it into a ponytail. She drummed her fingers on a random console and said, "That could work. I'll get Rodney on it. How's mom?"

Mitchell sighed and said, "Your mom's fine, worrying about you. I have to go."

Abbie nodded to no one in particular and said softly, "Bye. I love you."

"I love you too, my little soldier."

Dacey met Shaun at his quarters. He was waiting for her and setting up a game of Euchre on the middle of his bed. Shaun was sitting on his pillows, so she could sit at the foot of the bed. She laughed and sat down. Dacey asked, "How'd you know?"

Shaun let out a chuckle and said, "We practically lived in each other's quarters when we were younger and you always begged for me to play Euchre with you. I always tried telling you it worked better with four people; like usual, you didn't listen and insisted on us just playing."

Dacey sat and picked up her five cards with her free hand. She laughed and said, "Pass."

Shaun picked it up and stuck it with his five cards and put one of his other ones down. He said, "Hearts."

Shaun smiled as Dacey put down a card.

They kept playing until they ran out of cards and the score cards showed Dacey had won. She said, "I win. Go figure. Do you even try?"

Shaun laughed and leaned back to rest against the wall. He said, "Yes. You are just very lucky. Hoyle would roll over in his grave if he saw how you played."

Dacey smirked before she threw her cards into the air and started laughing. Cards flew in every direction, landing randomly over the floor. Shaun chucked his cards too and pushed all the cards on the bed off. Dacey scooted over to the middle as Shaun did. She leaned her head against his shoulder and said, "I miss the mindless days on Atlantis, where all we did was conduct trade with the Athosians."

Shaun nodded and put his head on the top of hers. He said, "I know."

Shaun and Dacey shifted to where they were curled up on the bed together comfortably. The two curled up and ended up hugging each other on the bed and falling asleep like that.

Rodney walked into the medical bay. Jennifer stood by a computer, typing up a medical report for Ronon and Katie. Rodney went up to her and said, "I have something to show you."

Jennifer faced him and asked, "Well, can't it wait?"

Rodney took her hand and said, "No."

Dragging Jennifer behind him, Rodney headed for a certain balcony. They had to weave through multiple halls to reach the balcony. It was barely ever used by anybody and it was small but, Rodney had counted on that. He stopped in front of the door leading outside. Jennifer pursed her lips and asked, "Rodney, what is this about?"

Rodney said, "This is what you officially deserve for helping save Atlantis."

Jennifer sighed and said, "Okay."

Rodney beamed and tugged her out onto the balcony. A blanket was laid out on the balcony with a picnic basket on top. Plates were set out in meal fashion, so they could take out the food and eat. Between the china and silverware, a silver candle set. In the distance, Earth could be seen, like a sparkling jewel.

Jennifer gasped and said earnestly, "Rodney, it's beautiful. This is so sweet."

Jennifer used Rodney's arm to pull him down to kiss him briefly on the lips. Rodney could see how happy she was and he became happy too. He said, "Are you going to make me wait to eat, or what?"

Jennifer playfully shoved him and they both sat down, Jennifer looking out at Earth. Rodney reached into the basket and drew out a few sandwiches in baggies and potato ships, also in baggies. Jennifer laughed at the bagged food. Rodney said defensively, "What? You don't like the food or what?"

Jennifer put her hand over her mouth. Rodney pulled out a few more tubs full of random food. Jennifer replied, "No. I like the food, Rodney. It's just that in all the years we've been married, you still like to eat everything and anything."

Rodney frowned and Jennifer scooted over to sit next to him and she got out a few grapes from one container. Jennifer popped a few into her mouth. Thinking for a second, she held one in front of Rodney's face. He opened his mouth and Jennifer put it into in. Jennifer put the grape tub down and wrapped her arms around Rodney's torso. She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder.

Abbie was talking to the Zelenka clan. Anna was trying to help her father convince Abbie to keep the Arhgohnnians around. Anna seethed, "We should definitely keep them around. Obviously they are more advanced than us and we should study their technology."

Abbie put her head in her hands. She replied, "I can understand your desire to study the technology but, they are our allies and I can't force them to stay."

Anna threw her hands into the air and said, "Fine. Ask them to give me specs of pieces of tech. I can deal with that."

Abbie leaned back, "Actually, I already did. I thought you two and Rodney could reverse engineer some of it. Otherwise, the Arhgohnnian fleet is leaving soon. Since repairs are completed, they will also take the Zamora with them and lock them away in an Ancient outpost in the Pegasus Galaxy."

Anna dropped her hands and said, "You are really going to let me and dad reverse engineer?"

"Yes."

Anna smiled and said, "Thank you."

Abbie nodded as the two stood and went out of her office. The glass walls facing out didn't hide her reaction but, Abbie didn't really care. She slumped in her chair and covered her face with her hands. She stood up and started across the walkway to the control room and then the stairs leading to the rest of the city. She began walking away towards someplace to clear her head. She needed air.

Wen and Ahn were getting dressed in Wen's quarters. When they were fully dressed, Ahn went over and kissed Wen. She smiled beneath his lips and kept kissing him until her lungs were about to burst. Pulling away, Ahn reached up and traced her jawline with his thumb, making both their stomachs flutter.

Wen intertwined her fingers with one of his hands and pulled him out the door and down the hall.

Shaun woke up first and sat up. Dacey did after she woke and realized he was sitting. She sat up and groaned while she said, "I hate being burned, literally and metaphorically. "

Shaun gave her a lopsided smile and stood, stretching as he did. Dacey got up beside him and kicked a few cards, by her feet. Shaun looked down at her and said, "Dacey, I need to tell you something."

Dacey looked him in the eye, concerned something bad had happened. She asked, "What's wrong?"

Shaun shook his head and said, "Nothing. I wanted to tell you something for a few years but, I was scared of how you might react. I'm not scared anymore. I love you."

Dacey started to speak but, Shaun stopped her flow of words and train of thought by pressing his lips against hers firmly. He grabbed her neck and pulled her closer to him. Her eyes widened and she pulled back. An angry look spread over her face. Shaun started to say something but, she ran out of the room and down the hall. Shaun hung his head in defeat and shakily sighed. He looked up and headed out the door.

On one of the balconies, the largest one, Abbie stood looking at the stars. The door behind her opened and Dacey came out. She walked a ways away from Abbie and leaned against the rail. Next, Ahn and Wen had their arms around each other's waists and they approached the railing together. Shaun came next and he stood on the opposite end of the balcony from Dacey.

Shaun glanced over at Dacey, who gave him a glare. He dropped his gaze and then looked up at the stars. The entire team watched the stars and the planet Earth.

"Science fiction is an existential metaphor that allows us to tell stories about the human condition. Isaac Asimov once said, 'Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinded critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science fiction, its essence, has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all.'"

- Douglas Anders, _Stargate SG-1_, Episode: _200 _–


End file.
